


Becoming in Exile

by editoress



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Brief thoughts of suicide, Friendship, Gen, the journey of finding oneself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 20:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13107498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/editoress/pseuds/editoress
Summary: Narti survives, much as she doesn't want to.  With the help of a loyal companion, a trusting stranger, and a former enemy, she has to find her own way.





	1. I

She survived.

Narti had come close to death more than once.  Some occasions had been a matter of chance.  An enemy weapon brushed the air where she had stood an instant before; she felt the heat of an explosion but just avoided its impact.  Some occasions had been a matter of healing, of surviving despite the fact she had not escaped.  Her whole life, Narti had believed that that first, careful breath the moment after you knew you were going to live was sweetest.

This one raked her throat and strained her lungs.

This wasn’t how she had wanted it to go.

Despite the fact that Prince Lotor had struck her down, Narti was alive.  She took in another painfully real breath.

Kova was nearby.  She sensed that even before she felt the restraints across her wrists and ankles.  Kova, a part of her and yet not in a way not even her fellow generals had been able to understand—of course Kova would follow her even through death and back.  Narti lay still a moment.  Quintessence hummed in the air, thin but present.  Lights, she guessed.  A monitoring system.  A secure door.  Deeper and more distant, machinery sent infinitesimal tremors through the metal beneath her—engines.  She was on a ship.

She strained her senses, but no presences sparked around her.  There was the vague glow of someone just beyond the door, standing guard.  And Kova was making his way to Narti.  There was nothing to do but wait.

Narti tightened her hands into fists and slowly pulled, testing the strength of the restraints.  They pulled back, unyielding.  Her tail curled restlessly.  She wanted to move.  She did not want to think.  She pulled harder until a sword edge of pain shot across her chest.  She held herself still, noting the nature and position of the pain even as it howled through her nerves.  She was not yet healed.  She would have to remember.  Breathing hurt more now, aching with the expansion of her chest as well as chafing at her throat.

She didn’t blame him.  Weakness was a kind of betrayal.

Her mental abilities were the chink Haggar had found in Prince Lotor’s armor.  Even so, as soon as Kova was close enough, Narti reached out for him.  It was enough to calm them both for a moment.  And then she  _ looked _ .

At first there was nothing, but in a few ticks she saw herself from above.  Kova dropped into the room.  Narti warned him to be silent even as he greeted her enthusiastically.  Once Kova was satisfied she was alive and present, he began prowling around the room, allowing her to see it through his eyes.

It was a medical room, but bare enough to be a cell.  Narti was bound to a table in the center.  There was only one door, soundly locked based on the console beside it.  A larger console to one side monitored her bio status.  And above her—

Narti pressed back into the table.  There was no way to avoid the quintessence channel directly above her.  She knew that long, narrow shape the druids used for their work in repurposing soldiers.  Enough quintessence could make anyone into a weapon, and the druids had the power to direct it, both in its pure form and after it had saturated your body and mind.

Haggar had used her against her will once.  This would be a permanent transformation of her being into Haggar’s tool.  Narti did not know what happened to a Galra’s essence once they belonged to the druids, and she did not want to.  She had to go.  Now.

Kova paced the floor below, agitated by Narti’s fear.  With some focus, Narti was able to direct him to the console so that she could see the controls.  She looked over them through Kova’s eyes.  Her writing was tenuous at best, but she could read perfectly when she had to.  She twisted and reached out with her tail.  Her wrists creaked at the pressure.  She stilled long enough to draw a deep breath.  On a steady, silent exhale, she stretched the last possible millimeters.  Her tail dipped and landed first on the light controls and then at last on the release command for the restraints.

Her joints throbbed in the sudden freedom, and her chest was no better for the exercise.  Narti tested her limbs and got to her feet.  It was painful, but she would function well enough.  Kova wound about her ankles until Narti tapped the table impatiently.  There was no time to celebrate yet.

Narti padded to the door.  Her senses had cleared a little, enough to tell for sure that she only had one guard.  She listened, but could hear or sense no one else.  She tilted her head at the door.  And then she raised a hand and rapped on it twice.

“What the frell?” came a mumble from the other side.  There was a crack as the door unlocked.  And then it hissed open.

Before the door had retreated fully into the wall, Narti had grasped the guard by the throat and jerked him into the room.  His gun grazed her side without firing  She broke his neck in one swift movement.  He didn’t even make noise.  She ran a hand over his belt and came across a hilt.  She took the knife for her own and left at a run, Kova following like a small shadow.

She knew the feel of ships. The angles and corridors were easy to read. She had only to listen to bouncing sound and feel the shift in the air. Here she could run. The trouble was finding a hangar without finding soldiers. 

She trusted speed over caution in this case.  It wouldn’t be long before someone discovered she was no longer restrained.  Better to make an obvious path to her exit than be cut off from it while she strategized.

She felt a swell of minds ahead.  An instant later, the smell hit her, and she veered left away from the mess hall.  If this was a standard dreadnought, that meant she needed to go  _ up _ .  There were a few levels yet between her and the fighter bays.

Kova’s attention was piqued, and he showed Narti an image of an access hatch on the wall.  It was just large enough.  Narti dropped to halt.  Kova used the opportunity to leap onto her shoulder.  A little work with the knife got the hatch open.  Narti reached inside and felt warm bundles of power conduits and the telltale insulation of a pipe for the life support recycling system.  And since it was meant for maintenance workers, there would be enough room to move up and down along the wires and tubes.  She slipped inside, pulling the hatch to behind her.

It was pitch dark; she could tell by the way Kova clung to her uneasily.  Narti took a moment to reassure him and began to climb.

She moved upward through strata of noise and silence.  She kept track of their passing, all the while bracing for the sound of a ship-wide alert.  She gritted her teeth only to realize that her jaw wasn’t in much better shape than her chest, which was beginning to throb with the strain of climbing.

“... with the rest of the fleet soon?” a soldier asked from the corridor outside.  She was eleven levels up and making slower progress.  She paused, keeping her breathing silent as booted footsteps sounded a meter away.

“And miss leave on Candelis?” scoffed a second soldier.  Narti felt their presences pass by her without slowing or suspecting.  “Nah, let the witch do her work.  When we get planetside...”

Once she could no longer hear them, Narti dropped one arm at a time to her side to relieve the ache and continued her climb.  She counted twelve on the next level.  And then she thought.

She had only a partial idea of where Candelis was, but what mattered was that it  _ was  _ a planet.  The dreadnought was in orbit.

Thirteen.

With a fast enough fighter, Narti could get a head start on the dreadnought.  It would take them some time to pull the ship out of the planet’s gravity well.

Fourteen.  A squad passed by the access hatch wordlessly, boots pounding against the corridor almost in rhythm.

She would need Kova’s help plotting coordinates, but a fighter would be much quicker to escape the gravity well and form a wormhole than the massive warship.  If she could outpace them, she could lose them.  And then...

Fifteen.  One more.

She focused.  Climbing came first; then a ship.  Only once she was out of Haggar’s reach would she have time for  _ and then _ .

Sixteen levels up, Narti stopped and listened.  Her tail lifted to help brace her against the pipes behind her.  She heard and sensed nothing.  As quietly as possible, she popped the access hatch open and crawled out.  The hangar would be portside, to her left.  She closed the hatch softly and moved forward—not at a run, but balancing speed with stealth.  Kova’s claws pricked her shoulders, but not much; they had moved together like this a thousand times.  They were almost there.

The edge of her senses brushed against a handful of presences.  It wasn’t the muted glimmer of most minds, or the powerful ring of the dalladh’s telepathic fields.  These crackled with the unnatural psychic energy of quintessence.

Druids.

The only reason Narti didn’t slam to a halt was that Kova was still on her shoulder.  But within a few ticks she did stop and press her back against the wall.  She took one more instant to note the druids’ position and closed her mind off.  Kova pawed at her curiously.

The druids were right between her and the hangar, possibly in the hangar itself.  Even if they hadn’t noticed her, she was running out of time.

Narti ran a reassuring finger over Kova’s cheek.  There was no time for fear.  Only a clear mind and quick thinking.

She turned and started back the way she came—slowly at first, but then leaning into a run.  She swung around a corner toward the hull, tail shifting to keep her upright.  She flipped her stolen blade into a light, three-fingered grip.  Somewhere ahead, her path ended with the inner hull.  She could hear its approach in the distortion of sound.

There was a sharp gasp, and someone shuffled away from her.  “What—” a soldier grunted.

Narti threw the knife.

A wet, choked yelp told her she had hit her target.  When she reached him a moment later, she ducked down to retrieve the blade.  Another soldier’s footsteps thudded toward her.  Without rising, she lashed out with her tail.  There was a crack, and the hall was silent.  Narti searched the downed soldiers for a sidearm.

Guns were  _ not  _ her specialty.  She needed Kova for all but close range, and at that point she preferred other weapons.  All the same, she picked up a sidearm before standing and reaching out to Kova.

As soon as Kova showed it to her, Narti punched the evacuation command on the emergency console.

All along the bulkhead, thirty escape pods opened up, ready for use.  An alert blared over the intercom.  Narti strode down the corridor.  At every open door, she allowed Kova to guide her aim and shot the escape pods’ minimal consoles.  Escape pods had only one main command: launch.

Eight escape pods had fired into space before Narti felt she had caused enough confusion.  She could hear distant yelling even over the alert.  She ducked into the next pod and was gone before anyone had arrived for the evacuation procedure.

Kova made a plaintive noise in her ear and showed Narti that they were barrelling toward the planet below.  Narti had been counting on it.  If the druids were guarding the Galra fighters, then she would have to find a ship somewhere else.  Whatever kind of world Candelis was, it would do.  The pod began to shake in atmospheric entry.

She patted herself down while she waited for the landing.  She didn’t have much to work with.  She was wearing a standard bodysuit rather than her armor.  She had her stolen weapons, one of which she didn’t care for.  Her comm was gone.  Her adaptor that helped her use consoles was gone.

She had survived with less before.

The pod’s descent rockets kicked in.  Kova was clinging uncomfortably to her in such a way that it took some convincing to get him to look out the small viewport so Narti would have some idea of where they were landing.  But she saw only the flash of lights before the pod hit ground.

Narti flipped open the hatch immediately and stepped out into a cloud of dust.  Kova squirmed in her arms until she let him down.  It was warm, but not warm enough to be the day side of the planet.  Narti could sense no one nearby.  Kova stretched pointedly before trotting away.

Narti looked through Kova’s eyes and saw a collection of bright lights covering a sprawling spaceport of low walls and narrow streets, no more than a kilometer away.  They had landed just outside whatever city this was.  She followed Kova down the dark hillside of packed dirt.  They had to push forward.  They were still short on time.

The port was a bustle of noise and presences, even from the shadows.  It smelled mostly of exhaust and grease.  But another scent caught Narti’s attention—grain.  She crouched by a wall and inhaled.  It was faint and muffled by others, but the rich, grassy smell was there.  Someone was shipping produce.  Where there was grain, there was a farm.  And where there was a farm, there were very few people.

It was perfect.

Kova leapt up first, surveying the docking bay from atop the wall.  Two beings were unloading grain bins.  They were more focused on their own conversation than their surroundings.  Narti vaulted over the wall with little effort and crept closer to the ship.  Kova kept an eye on the dock workers.  When they were otherwise occupied with arranging bins, Narti swung herself up and over the landing ramp into the ship, Kova following close behind.

It was a standard cargo area for a ship this size.  Narti found additional unused storage space below the grating of the floor and let herself in.  It didn’t completely conceal her, but it had enough room.  Kova got in at Narti’s insistence, but then paced the length of the compartment unhappily.

Now she had to be still.  Normally quieting her mind and body took little effort on her part.  Some missions had required her to wait for days before striking.  Now the end of her tail twitched and unwelcome thoughts skittered like pests across the periphery of conscious thought.  She could  _ not _ think.  Not yet.

Narti smothered a rising, unnamed fear as she waited.  Three times footsteps and conversation passed over her, and three times she went unnoticed as the last of the grain was hauled off.  Kova crouched nearby, back arched and tail lashing wildly.  Whether he could sense Narti’s unease or was acting on his own, there was no telling.

Metal shook around them as the engines roared to life.  The ship lifted from the bay with the shudder of old machinery and tilted upward, against Candelis’s gravity.  Narti took note of their angle and acceleration.  She did not begin to relax until they had cleared atmosphere without being stopped.  The forces aboard the dreadnought hadn’t made sense of the mess yet.  By the time they knew to look for her, it would be too late to find her.

The rumble of the engines in vacuum was steady; it made its own kind of silence.  Kova was pawing irritably at the grating, concerned with little more than their current surroundings.  Narti found the puffy, healing scar that ran a brutal line from her cheek to just below her sternum.

Where was she going?

Narti had been all across the galaxy, but when she  _ returned _ , it was always to Lotor’s side.  When she left, it was on his orders.  She had no place, hadn’t for a long time, only an anchor.  There was somewhere at the beginning of her memory, the planet where she had been born.  It was full of her people and unlike any world she had seen since.

Her people.  She hadn’t thought about them in years.  Her comrades were her people.   _ Lotor _ was her people.

Had been.

She was a weakness to him.  A traitor to the other generals.  A conquest for the Galra Empire.  An enemy to the rebellion.

Narti had nowhere to go.

Cold, slow emptiness spread from her chest like an infection.  Nowhere to go.  Nothing to do.  The chill of the metal deck bit at her back and legs.  She should not be here.  The need to leave ate through her tired, heavy limbs.

She could sense the pilot, the only other being on board.  If she were pure dalladh, she could seize his mind from here and control their destination.  But to what end?  Where would she have him take her?

What difference did it make?

Narti had never been claustrophobic.  She breathed through the prickling restlessness until she finally felt her own exhaustion.  She could not leave.  There was nowhere to go.

She didn’t fall asleep, but she did sink into a hazy, aching kind of rest.  Kova eventually accepted their fate and curled up by Narti’s side.  The ship continued on, carrying them through the void to nowhere in particular.


	2. II

Narti came alert with a jolt.  The ship had hit ground, sending a shock through the deck into her sore body.  Kova was already awake.  He insistently showed Narti the image of the grating above them, irritation shining clear.  Narti reached over to stroke behind Kova’s ears.  The ship’s engines whined into total silence.  The presence of the pilot was fading into the distance.  Wherever they were, they were alone.

Narti pushed up the grating.  Kova leapt up immediately and pranced aimlessly until Narti followed.  Narti closed the grating silently behind her.  She stretched halfheartedly, careful of her wound.  And then she began feeling along the bulkhead for the landing ramp.

She let Kova go first, as if she could have stopped him.  Kova saw a handful of distant lights but no other signs of civilization.  There were small night animals about, the kind that excited Kova’s hunting instinct, but no witnesses.  Narti dropped from the ship and started running.  Her legs and tail were stiff, but in a few moments they were warmed to the activity.  Kova darted ahead of her, sharp eyes watching their path.

They headed away from the lights, toward the safety of isolation.  This was a fertile planet; plants sprung up absolutely everywhere on the rolling land.  Insects scattered before them.  They were beyond any danger of being found.  Still Narti kept running, because she didn’t know what to do if she stopped.

Even so, she had to.  Her body was worn out.  Even breathing hurt her throat and chest.  Her steps slowed against her will.  A small bluff and thick foliage worked together to make a partial shelter.  Narti managed to make it there before sinking to the ground.  Kova began prowling around at once, picking his way through the thick undergrowth.  He was clearly tired of being cooped up.  Narti only wanted to sleep, and so she did.

She woke in reluctant stages.  Kova was curled up by her head, sun-warmed and content.  The cool, damp air rung with the calls of native fauna.  Narti just ached.

She lay there for a long time, hoping to slip back into unconsciousness but never coming near it.  She had little energy or desire to move, and she was loath to disturb Kova.  Poor Kova.  He had been through so much and remained invaluable.  Narti tilted her head slightly to lean into Kova’s warm fur.

It didn’t help.  She still felt cold.

Later in the day, Kova left to go hunting.  He kept close enough for Narti to sense him, which limited his range but reassured them both.  Narti stayed for a little while longer, then rose, figuring she should find water if nothing else.

A varga or so of searching awarded her a small spring.  It was surrounded by abundant plant life, especially fungi, but there was no telling what was edible.  It would be safer to stick to meat.  She took a drink and avoided the fungus.  It didn’t trouble her.  She wasn’t hungry.

That night she dreamed of Haggar inside her head.  She didn’t sleep well after that, even once she calmed Kova down.

It only got harder.  No matter how long she stayed in their little hollow, she never felt rested.  Kova had some luck hunting, but not enough for both of them.  Narti didn’t have the appetite for much in any case.  She would have numbly gone without indefinitely except that he began bringing her kills and clawing at her rather painfully if she didn’t pick them up quickly enough.  There was no way to prepare anything he caught, but Narti had dealt with raw meat before.  Each time, she thanked Kova, who swished his tail imperiously and accepted the proffered face rubs.

Even so, the days became bleak.  Narti fell to thinking about how she had let Haggar slip through her mental defenses.  If she had been pure Galra, Haggar would have had nothing to take advantage of.  If she had been pure dalladh, she would have been too strong for the witch to overpower.  Even her pathetic halfbreed abilities could have saved Prince Lotor’s plans if only she had trained harder with them.  If only she had thrown more willpower into resisting.  If she had been  _ better _ .

But she had failed.  She had let him down and destroyed everything, and for that Lotor had executed her—or tried.  As a just leader.

Narti traced the scar again.  It itched faintly, a sign of healing.  She wished he had succeeded.

She still had her weapons, stolen from the dreadnought.  She didn’t have to fail him in this, too.

Her hand closed around the sidearm still at her hip.  It was warm and a little damp from days in the outdoors, but it would still work.  And then she stood and threw it as far as she could.  She opened and closed her empty hand on air, shaken and bewildered.  Kova could have sensed that thought, easily.

Despite herself, she heard and noted where the sidearm landed.

No, if Narti was going to end it, she would do it alone, not where she could traumatize—

She couldn’t sense Kova.

She cast her senses out around her.  Kova had been staying near since they had landed here, never straying beyond their connection.  Narti tried to recall the last time she had felt him nearby, but her thoughts had been so mired lately that she didn’t know.  The air around her was alive with sounds and smells, none of them Kova-like.

Slowly, ever alert, Narti started walking.

She started a wide, spiraling search pattern.  She was somewhat less than graceful.  Open spaces were difficult for her to navigate without Kova.  But she could snatch glimpses of her surroundings from creatures around her.  It was much harder without a bond, but if they were close enough, their simple minds were open to her.  Most didn’t care for the experience and scampered away as soon as she was done with them.  Even so she kept going steadily.

Finally she caught the barest hint of his presence in the distance.  Narti broke off from her path and hurried toward him, using short, rolling steps so she wouldn’t trip over sudden obstacles.

There was more noise ahead, and the glimmer of an intelligent mind.  Narti recognized the pilot that had unwittingly brought her here.  Tall stalks brushed her side, and with some sidestepping she managed to find a path between unnaturally straight rows of something grassy.  She had reached a farm.

Narti slowed and stopped once she was near enough to reach for Kova and be heard clearly.  He responded at once.  He was, of course, perfectly fine.  More than that, he was purring and content, and thought it had been a little ridiculous of Narti to worry.  She got the distinct sense that there was food involved.

The pilot—who most likely spent more of his time farming—was drawing nearer.  Narti’s tail twitched to one side, but she warily decided to allow it, since he had probably seen her already.

“H’lo,” said a gruff voice.

Narti nodded.

“Passin’ through?” he asked.

She pointed in Kova’s direction.  The farmer grumbled and trudged away.  A door creaked fifteen or twenty meters away.  So there was a building, probably part of the complex visible from the ship when they first landed.  Narti felt Kova’s spike of alarm just before she heard the farmer snap, “Hey now!”  Kova darted past the farmer and leapt onto Narti’s shoulder.

The farmer made his way back to Narti, huffing audibly now.  “Yer lorra’s been eatin’ my eggs,” he accused.

Narti tapped Kova lightly on the nose in an admonishing gesture.  He purred.

The farmer grunted.  She could tell by the direction of his voice that he was considerably shorter than her.  His presence didn’t seem like that of any particular species she knew.  He sniffed loudly.  “Y’aren’t Galra, are you?”

Narti stilled a the question.  His tone was easy and unsuspecting, but the question itself struck her harshly.  Something like longing crept through her.  She shook her head.

“Didn’t think so.”  He sniffed again.  “Might wanna be careful, though.  Got a bit a’ purple about you.  Folks around here is suspicious.”

Feared like an imperial without any of their security or resources.  Narti nodded.

“Name’s Chok,” the farmer went on.  He cleared his throat.  Narti unthinkingly compared him to one of the deep-tunnel creatures on Dalla—large, clumsy, furred herbivores called elaths.  They were more commonly known as snufflers for the fact that they were always snorting or grunting or huffing as they dug up fungus.  This farmer couldn’t seem to be quiet, either.  “It’s my farm yer on,” he added.

Narti nodded again.

He puffed out an explosive sigh.  “Who’re you, stranger?”

Narti shook her head.  For once she was glad she couldn’t speak.  She wasn’t certain she had anything to tell him.

“No?” Chok repeated.  “Kinda answer is that?”

She waited him out.

“Hmph,” he decided at last.  “Look like you’ve seen trouble anyhow.”  He sniffed and sighed, more quietly this time.  “How about you do a bit a’ work, pay me back for those eggs?”

She hesitated.  She had no business with this farmer.  This was beneath her.  She was a general—or had been recently.  Now she wasn’t sure.

“Little extra and you’ll get a hot meal,” Chok added.  “Yer like to keel over from hunger by the looks of it.”

It was  _ not _ beneath her.

Chok called the plant taff, and he had a lot of it harvested already.  He demonstrated how to husk it.  “Suppose you can’t see me doin’ it,” he said as he pulled the husk off the single enormous seed.  He held the seed up to her and rapped on its surface, producing a hollow knocking sound.  “Don’t need to, far as whether it’s ripe.  They’re all white anyhow.  You want the ones that sound like this.”  He stood over Narti and watched her husk a couple of them herself.  She tossed them into the waiting bin one after the other.  Kova watched the farmer warily, but all he did was fold his arms and scowl in a general fashion.

Once he was satisfied, Chok told her he would come check on her progress when the food was ready.  In the meantime, she was expected to work.  Narti took to it without complaint.  It was tedious and mindless but somehow relieving.  She moved with a purpose.  The only time she truly had to think was when she had to warn Kova away from eating any more eggs.

A varga passed, and then two.  Narti realized she was hungry.  It was a weak, sickly kind of hunger, but it was there.

Just when the day was beginning to cool into night, Chok returned, rustling loudly through the grass.  He hemmed and hawed over her work.  At last, he allowed, “Not bad.”  Narti didn’t strictly trust his evaluation.  She could smell the savory steam of the food he had already brought with him.

He pressed a plate and an eating utensil into her hands.  “Here,” he grunted.  “Leave the dish when you’re done.”  He considered her with a wordless rumble.  After a moment, he added, “Suppose you’ll go on back to wherever you came from.  Shed’s warm enough if not.”  Then he left her alone.

It took Narti a little longer than usual to decipher what he had been trying to tell her.  She felt out the shape of the eating utensil—a wide, flat-edged thing more like a small shovel than anything else—and began eating.  The plate was filled with a warm, chewy sludge that tasted mostly of grains and grease.  Narti ate every last bite and, since no one was watching, licked the plate clean when she was done.  She snapped the lid on the bin of husked taff.  And then she went in search of the shed, Kova riding comfortably on her shoulder.

The shed was exactly as unimpressive as she had expected.  It was divided into two compartments.  One door was locked.  The other led to a room that was little more than a dusty closet with cheap, simple tools crammed along one wall.  Narti situated herself as far away from the door as possible.  She still didn’t sleep easily, but for once she woke feeling rested.

Chok found her before she could leave the next morning.  “Got time for fixin’ ships, stranger?” he asked.  Cloth rustled, and through Kova Narti got a glimpse of him pointing toward his ship before he snorted sheepishly about the gesture.  “Mine’s rattling somethin’ fierce lately.”

She remembered.  The thing wobbled so much in atmosphere it was a wonder he could land it.  She nodded.

“Come on, then.”  He passed her to rustle through the shed and emerged with the clank of tools.  “Got a feelin’ it just needs tightened, but I need an extra set a’ hands that don’t run off every three ticks.”

This last comment only added to Chok’s increasing bizarreness.  Narti followed him anyway, silent behind his trail of shuffling footsteps and sniffling.

Narti was no stranger to repairs, but her part in this involved surprisingly little effort.  Chok did the work.  For the most part he just asked her to hold things intermittently—a light when he needed to see into the engine, a panel when he needed it steady to reattach it.  After a while, he got into the cockpit and started the ship up.  The rattling was muffled but still shook the frame.  Chok shut it off and circled the ship, grumbling incoherently all the way.  Narti waited.

Finally, he huffed a sigh.  “Hang on, need the diagnostic,” he muttered.  He left, footsteps pounding irritably against the ground.

Narti stood still and unassuming until she sensed Chok had created enough distance between them.  Then she crouched down by the engine block and held up the light.  Kova gave her a careful look at all the parts.  Once she had an idea of what she was looking at, she rubbed behind Kova’s ears in thanks.  Kova took that as a signal that his job here was done, and leapt gracefully off Narti’s shoulder to otherwise entertain himself.

Narti felt around the block’s connections, but Chock had tightened them to a fault.  She knocked quietly on the pipes and found they sounded perfectly hollow, with no blockages that she could detect.  She inhaled.  Something smelled very faintly burnt, and not in a way appropriate to ship engines.

She felt a presence approaching and withdrew just in time to realize it was  _ not _ Chok.  Her left foot slid back and her tail extended for better combat balance.  And then a high voice said, “Can I pet yer lorra?”

Narti hesitated and examined the presence.  Now that she focused on it, she could tell it was young.

“Well, come on, can I?” the child asked.

Narti did not bother answering.  Kova could decide for himself whether he would like to be pet.  This was the second time someone had called him a lorra, but Narti was hardly surprised; there seemed to be at least one creature similar to Kova on every inhabited planet.

Narti gave him a quick warning of what was coming.  He was less than pleased.  The instant the child reached out, he hissed spectacularly and scrambled up to Narti’s shoulder.

“It’s mean!” the child accused.  Kova recognized the tone if not the words and growled at them.  “How’d you get hacked up?” they demanded.

Narti did not have the slightest idea how to answer that even if she’d had the inclination to, so she turned back to the ship.  One of the parts was going bad; she just had to find it.

“Did it cut yer eyeballs out?” the child asked.

Narti shook her head.

“You mean you just  _ started out _ with no eyeballs?”

Narti emerged again and stood there for a moment.  The end of her tail twitched in aggravation.  She pointed to the child and then toward the rest of the farm.

The child was quiet for two ticks.  “What  _ about  _ the field?” they asked.

Narti pointed again, more insistently.

“Go away?” they guessed.  Narti nodded, and their tone turned sour.  “Why should I?  _  I _ live here, you know.”

She paused in thought.  Very meaningfully, she crossed her arms, slouched, and exhaled sharply.

The child burst into laughter.  “You sound just like Pops!  Do it again!”  When she hesitated, they pleaded, “One more!  One more and I’ll go.”

Narti figured she had best make it a good one.  She stomped her foot and exhaled even louder, letting it catch on the back of her throat to make it almost a growl.

The child hooted with laughter.  This time they left when she pointed, scampering away in a clumsy run.  Kova jumped back down to watch them go.

Narti returned her attention to the ship.  With some prodding and investigation, she found a valve that was starting to melt on one side.  It was part of a fairly major fuel connector, so it was probably wasting fuel as well as shaking the engine whenever fuel passed through.  She felt around a little more just to be sure.

Chok returned with lunch as well as the diagnostic tool he had been looking for.  Narti stood and tapped on the hull as soon as he arrived.  Chok snorted at her.  “Sit down an’ eat somethin’, we aren’t takin’ off just yet.”  He slapped a dry sphere in her hand and leaned against the ship to eat, completely ignoring her attempts to draw his attention.  Narti sniffed at the sphere and took a bite.  It was another grain dish, this one fluffy and stuffed with meat and something salty.  It was delicious.

When Chok was ready, he asked, “What’ve you got?”

Narti showed him the failing valve.  Chok grumbled at it and dug through his tools.  Narti was once again relegated to holding a light and handing him tools while he replaced the valve.  It took little enough time for having caused so much trouble.  This time, when he started the engine, it kicked twice and then ran smoothly.  “Hmph,” Chok said as he cut the engine off and hopped out of the cockpit.  “Good eye.”  He coughed.

Narti pointed to her nose.

He barked something that could have been a laugh.  “Good nose,” he corrected.

Chok made her the same offer as the day before.  If she spent the afternoon husking taff, she would get dinner.  “Better come to the house for it, though,” he added gruffly.  “Not gonna walk it all the way out here to you.”

Narti just nodded, uncertain of what he was getting at, and got to work.

It had the same soothing effect as before.  She worked in regular motions, pulling the husks off an endless pile of taff.  Even when her shoulders burned with constant use, it was a heady, invigorating burn.  Her thoughts were on her task.

Twice, a cold fear crept into her.  She didn’t know what to do with her existence, but it couldn’t be this.  Yet every time she tried to decide what it  _ could _ be, her thoughts became frayed, incomplete, and useless.  She did not know.  But she  _ did _ know she wanted dinner, so for the time being she focused on the taff.

Kova roamed farther and farther, occasionally passing beyond Narti’s senses to chase down some hapless creature.  He clearly felt comfortable enough on the farm.

A cool breeze swept past Narti.  She could no longer feel the heat of the sun in any particular direction.  The day was ending.  She closed the bin off taff and stretched.  Her muscles were pleasantly sore.  It felt good after such a long time of being immobile.  Her body was coming back to itself.  She called for Kova, and together they made their way to the only lit building.

Even as she approached, she sensed the child from earlier was at the door.  She hesitated.  The child opened the door without prompting anyway.  “Pops made eggs!” they announced immediately.

Chok grunted from inside.  “Zammi.”

The child ignored him.  “Well, come on!”

Kova observed from her shoulder.  Chok was already seated at a small table with two chairs.  One stool, obviously dragged from elsewhere, was pushed up to one side of the table.  Zammi landed on the other chair and watched Narti cautiously sit down.  The eggs smelled mouthwatering.

“Eat up,” Chok ordered.

Zammi dug in at once, smacking loudly.  The child was making so much noise that Narti couldn’t even tell whether Chok had started eating yet.  She shoveled a bit of it into her utensil and ate it.

Zammi choked on their food.  “ _ Whoa _ !” they exclaimed.

“Zammi, what’d I tell you about makin’ fun of how folks look?” Chok snapped.

It was easy for Narti to forget that her jaw was set higher and wider than most.  Even Axca, Ezor, and Zethrid had found it unnerving at first.

“I wasn’t!” Zammi said defensively.  “It’s cool!  It’s  _ real _ cool!  Do it again!”

Narti didn’t see that she had a choice, if she wanted to eat the rest of the meal.  She scooped up her next bite.  She opened her mouth wide, revealing rows of short, sharp teeth, before continuing to eat.  Zammi let out a wordless yell of awed approval.  Chok growled slightly to himself but didn’t stop them.

After that demonstration, Narti was allowed to eat in relative peace.  Zammi peppered her with questions whenever they could get away with it, but Narti could only nod or shake her head, so they required very little effort on her part.

After dinner, Narti started for the door.  Chok stood and followed her halfway.  He sighed.  She could tell by the echo of the sound that he was turned away from her, though whether he was looking at Zammi or something else she didn’t know.  “Well…” he began.

Narti left before he could offer anything else.

She paced back to the shed but hesitated at the doorway.  There was something about this that felt wrong to her, almost dangerous, but she wasn’t sure what.  She had no idea why she was afraid.

Since she doubted it had anything to do with the safety of the shed, she went inside and tried to get some sleep.

She woke in the middle of the night, not for the first time, to the feeling that Haggar was in her mind.  She steadied her breathing and reached out a hand for Kova, who had sprung awake.  She froze.

It wasn’t a dream this time.

It was hazy and distant, but Haggar was here, in the system.  Looking for her.  Narti had to flee before Haggar came any closer.  Haggar was strong; she would find Narti soon.  She might even be able to overcome her mind from orbit.  Narti had to find the fastest way out of the witch’s reach.

And of course, she had to kill Chok and Zammi.  She couldn’t leave witnesses behind.

The thought was easy and natural during missions, and it came to the surface almost immediately.  It chilled her, but it was the measure she had always taken to succeed.  The mission came before any care with casualties, and right now her mission was to escape Haggar.

Narti got to her feet and checked for her knife.  She slipped out of the shed.  Kova’s sight let her get her bearings.  She wanted to close off her mind, but she needed to move fast, and she was not good at moving across open spaces on her own.  She crept toward the house.  The lights were off, and the presences inside were dimmed with sleep.

It had been ridiculous, anyway, that Narti had  _ wanted _ to fix Chok’s ship just because he gave her food.  She had been tempted to stay because the work gave her something like a purpose, even if it was an immediate one.  If she hadn’t been so bad off when she had first found this place, she would have known better.  Now he was a liability.

Narti slunk against the wall of the house and crouched beneath a window.  There was loud snoring from inside.  Chok first and then the child—that made the most sense.  Always take out the stronger opponent first if possible.  She was bound to succeed.

She didn’t move.

Her body, healed by time and rest and fed by strangers, remained where it was, just beneath the window, a meter away from the killing blow.  She thought.

What could Chok tell the Galra, except that she had been here?  If Haggar found him, she would already know that.  He did not know her name or where she was going.  He had nothing that could help the empire track her down.  He was useless to them.  Zammi knew no more than he did.

Narti took a deep breath.  She pivoted and broke into a run toward Chok’s newly repaired ship.  Kova bounded ahead of her, showing her the terrain.  Killing the two beings would be a waste of resources.   _ If _ Haggar brought the dreadnought here—which was unlikely if Narti moved fast enough—she would destroy them without learning anything, and Narti would be long gone.

The ship was ready and waiting.  The cockpit was locked, but that was very little trouble for Narti to circumvent.  She hit the ignition.  As soon as the engines whirred to life, she pushed them up and out of the planet’s gravity.  It wasn’t the fastest ship, but it would be enough.  Haggar would never be aware she had been near this planet.

Piloting was an unfortunate business.  The chair was too small for Narti.  Kova was perfectly willing to focus on the controls, but Narti was unfamiliar enough with working the usual touch controls that she had some difficulty orienting their flight.  Just then, she would have traded her one remaining weapon for her adaptor.

They were finally making their uncertain way out of the system when Haggar found her.  The witch’s distant presence zeroed into a painful point of contact.  Narti tried to close off her mind to no avail.  When she gave up, the proximity alert was beeping.  The dreadnought was here.

Narti looked through Kova’s eyes again.  They had to find a fast and difficult jump option before the approaching fighters got close enough to fire.  She scrolled through a series of preset navigation points.  She did not find what she was looking for, but she found something that would have to do—a trading post right on the edge of an asteroid belt.

The first shot from a fighter skimmed past the ship.

Narti jumped.

The ship shot to faster-than-light speeds, vanishing before the rest of the fighter squads could make contact.  Kova clung to her shoulder and lowered his head to give Narti the best possible view.  It would take more than a few ticks for the dreadnought to pick its fighters back up to make another jump.  Once she arrived, Narti had that long to lose herself in the asteroid belt.

The ship slammed back to sublight speeds with a shudder.  Apparently she had a few repairs to make on it yet.  Narti steered it toward the churning field of asteroids long kilometers ahead.  Even from here she could see that some of them were the size of small moons.

The proximity alert went off again, and Narti started.  The dreadnought had sent fighters ahead, alone.  Of course their top speed would be faster than this grain bucket, but she had counted on a few more ticks.  She pushed the engines.

One shot hit an asteroid just as she reached the belt, scattering debris everywhere.  Something boomed against the ship, and more alerts went off.  Narti grimly focused on flying.  The fighters wouldn’t be a problem if she could make it through the asteroids.  Kova was forced to watch both the viewport and the controls.  The fighters slowed behind her, likely to fire a volley from the safety of empty space.  Narti peeled the ship to the side, around one of the larger asteroids.  Behind her, shots exploded against rock.  She examined the radar to find the shortest path out of the belt only to find that the sensors were returning only static.  A small asteroid crashed against the side of the ship.

The cockpit began to smell of smoke.  The engine shook.  But the ship kept going.

They hurtled through the shifting maze as quickly as Narti dared go.  More than once the ship scraped painfully against rock.  The fuel light blinked, slowly at first, but then more frantically as they neared the inner edge of the belt.  The sensors were completely useless, so Narti used the system’s sun to guide her inward.

Kova could just see where the asteroids cleared ahead when something underneath them thundered.  The ship shuddered with a terrible roaring noise.  In the silence that followed, Narti realized with slow, bleak fear that they were drifting.  The engines hissed quietly and did nothing else.

Kova curled his tail around Narti’s neck and sunk down, ears pressed back.  The asteroids ahead of them were not forming an opening.  They were drifting toward empty space, less than a kilometer away from an escape, but there was nothing they could do to secure it.

An asteroid crashed into the stern of the ship.

They began making a slow spin.  Narti gripped the chair with one hand and raked the other through Kova’s fur.  The asteroid belt flashed past them and was replaced with the colossal brightness of a planet.  Narti hit the ignition again and again.  The engines sputtered faintly.  The ship slowly righted itself.  At first Narti thought the ship was running again, but it wasn’t machinery that had slowed their spin and brought their path to bear.  It was a gravity well.

The engines continued to spark and falter as they hurtled toward the vast, pale planet below.


	3. III

Narti woke to screaming pain.  She was slumped across a hot metal surface, and freezing cold air spilled over her back.  Everything hurt, especially the still-healing wound across her chest, which felt as though it had split open all over again.  She focused on breathing first, drawing in air to fuel her body.  When she felt she could move, she pushed herself upright with a tight, pained exhale.  This still felt like the ship, but she could smell alien air.  She felt her way to the door and found it was already gone from its frame.  The portside of the ship had been ripped open in the crash.

She stepped out and landed shakily on her knees on the rough ground.  She checked herself over.  Nothing major was broken, though pain shot through her ribs if she moved too ambitiously.  Her scar was still a scar, no matter how much her chest and throat ached.  She had lost her knife.

She reached out her senses for Kova and felt nothing.  She tried not to panic.  If Kova was unconscious, he would be much harder to sense.  Narti sat back on her heels and concentrated.  Nothing.

She got to her feet and returned to the ship to search it by touch, running her hands over every surface.  Adrenaline numbed the pain and allowed her to move quickly, if unsteadily.  She went over the interior of the ship again and again.  Nothing.

She stumbled outside and began examining the surrounding area and its scattered debris.  Charred metal burned her hands.  She was sick at the idea of finding Kova’s corpse but she searched anyway.  She went over the rocky ground within a hundred meters until everything ached all over again.

Nothing.

If the ship had been damaged on reentry and Kova had been lost before they hit the ground, he was dead.  If he was not here, he was dead.

Narti remained on her hands and knees.  Something inside her was wrong, wrong like the ship’s engines, wrong like a broken bone, but worse.  It was terrible and overwhelming.

Kova was dead.

Narti curled in on herself.  She brought her fists down on the ground.  It didn’t hurt enough.  Animals scattered blindly at the echo of her mental storm.  Her tail lashed.  She raked her claws over the top of her head.  She had never wanted so badly to speak just so she could  _ scream _ .  This could not happen.  She couldn’t survive this.  She didn’t  _ deserve _ this.

She had done  _ everything  _ for her prince.

Narti had dedicated her entire life to Prince Lotor.  He knew her strengths and weaknesses and had accepted them as his to command.  Every time she had nearly died had been for  _ him _ , either for his goals or for his safety.  She had been absolutely loyal.  He had known that.  She had tried to resist Haggar, but the druid was more powerful than she, and he had known that, too.

He had known.  When he had realized how Haggar was interfering and turned with that dreadful golden look, he had  _ known _ it wasn’t Narti.

She didn’t deserve to be disposed of like faulty equipment.

She  _ hated  _ him.  She hated him because she had entrusted him with everything she was, and he had taken it in a single tick.  He destroyed her whole life, her foundation, in one blow.  Now Kova was gone, too.  Narti scraped her claws against the ragged ground and wished she could scream.

Outside her raging mind was silence—just a solitary halfbreed kneeling motionless on the cold ground of an abandoned world.

* * *

Narti did not know how much time passed after that.  She knew that she was alive, and she knew that she was alone.  This world was empty and dry.  She had taken shelter from the bitterly cold wind in the leeward side of the wrecked ship.  Pain kept her awake and reminded her she was alive.

She should have been checking the ship’s communication system.  The ship itself was beyond repair, but there was a possibility she could still contact someone.  She should have been looking for her knife, which could be a vital tool when you had nothing else.  She should have been surviving.

But that was hard to think about at the moment.  The driven clarity of mind she had become so used to in her years as a general was gone.  She was tired of losing and going on anyway.

She was not so far gone that she did not sense two distant presences approaching from the other side of the ship.  Her head snapped up, taking her first real breath since the crash.  Small feet pattered on the ground, and a few ticks later, Kova jumped into her arms.

Narti let Kova claw her half to death in an attempt to rub her face, purring wildly.  Her hands shook.  Kova’s joy shone through the bond.  Narti hoped their mental communication could contain how she felt.

The other presence hovered a slight distance away.  She wrenched her attention away from Kova long enough to realize that she had felt this presence before.

“Uh,” said the voice of the yellow paladin, “I found your cat.”

Narti ran a hand gently down Kova’s back.  She would have preferred to watch the paladin for signs of aggression, but Kova had no interest in that at the moment.  The paladin backed away two cautious steps.

“I know you,” he accused.  His voice was scratchy with youth.  “You’re one of Lotor’s generals, aren’t you?”

Narti shook her head.  She indicated her scar.

He whistled.  She had no idea what that meant.  “Are you saying  _ Lotor _ did that?”

She nodded.

“I  _ told  _ them he was one of those guys,” he muttered.  “ _ Totally _ evil.”

Narti had to nod at that one.

The paladin shuffled uncertainly.  Kova still didn’t bother looking at him, which could only mean he was comfortable with the paladin’s presence.  “I have some medical supplies?” he said, almost as though it were a suggestion.  “As long as you’re not going to, you know, try anything crazy.”

She cocked her head.

“Great, thanks, that’s really reassuring.”  His armor clanked quietly.  He was probably gesturing at her.  “Just remember, I’m armed and you’re not.  And I’m being nice.   _ And _ I have a lion.  Which is this way.”  His footsteps crunched on the gritty, rocky surface as he walked away.

Kova purred loudly and then wiggled out of Narti’s grasp to trot after the paladin.  Narti got up with some difficulty and followed them.  Every so often, Kova would return to Narti to wind affectionately around her ankles, not caring that it might trip her up.  Narti warned him to be careful but did not have the heart to stop him.

As they walked, a strange, ancient mind brushed the edge of her senses.  Narti watched it warily, but it didn’t seem particularly aware of her.  It was vague and sedentary, like a plant, or one of those interstellar macroorganisms that wandered from system to system.  When it didn’t react to her, even when they drew close, she extended her mental senses to prod at it curiously.  A slow, bewildered alarm bloomed through the presence.

“Hey, don’t mess with him,” snapped the paladin.  “He’s  _ sensitive _ .”  He jogged ahead, and there was a quiet, metallic clank.  “Aren’t you, big guy?” he cooed.  “You don’t want the scary Galra to be rude to you, no you don’t.”

The yellow lion—for that was the only thing the paladin could be talking to—warmed fondly.

Kova was taking stock of the camp.  From his eyes Narti saw a heating coil propped up on the bare ground and a short row of bags and cases shoved against the lion’s side.  Kova stuck his head into one of the bags to investigate.

“No,” the paladin chided.  He was much gentler with Kova than he was with Narti, which boded better for his continued health than the other way around.  He pushed at Kova’s shoulder.  “No, no.  Come on, get out of there.  I don’t have any more snacks for you.”

Kova growled a little plaintively but slunk away from the bag.  He returned to Narti’s shoulder to sulk.  Narti stroked his back sympathetically.

There was a general clanking and rustling before them, and Narti leaned into Kova’s senses curiously.  The paladin was digging through one the cases.  Every few ticks he would extract something and set it to the side.  She recognized the look of medical supplies.  Narti crouched down stiffly and got to work.  The tips of her fingers and tail were slightly numb.  She ripped open a disinfectant patch. 

The noise paused.  “Oh,” the paladin said.  “Well, yeah, I guess you know your biology better than me.”  He pulled out a few more things and then let her be.  He fiddled with something metallic, and there was a low buzz from the direction of the heating coil.

Narti tended to her injuries and checked herself over to be sure she hadn't missed anything.  She knew from experience that unfortunately there wasn't much to do for her ribs except be careful with them.  Kova had not complained or felt any particular pain, but Narti fretted over him anyway.

“Uh,” the paladin said uncomfortably.  “First of all, do you eat jerky and protein bars?  Because that’s pretty much all I have.”

Narti nodded.  The heating coil was starting to do its work, and the bitter wind was tempered.  Wrappers crinkled as Hunk set the food on the ground by her knee.  “Second thing,” he said.  “They might not fit, but do you want—you know what, I’m just going to go get some.  It’s  _ freezing _ out here.”  He left, footsteps disappearing into the mouth of the lion.

Kova curled up in her lap, intent on sleeping, and Narti wrapped one arm around him.  Kova almost always stayed close, but right now he was all but burying himself in Narti’s crossed legs.  He was feeling the cold, too.  Narti didn’t mind it.  What more concerned her was the feeling of weightlessness. Her loyalty, her last belief that Lotor was worth her devotion, had died with Kova.  Kova had returned to her.  Her dedication had not.  She was no longer weighed down, but no longer anchored anywhere, either.  It was not as bad as her earlier purposeless despair, but it was strange.

The paladin returned and dropped what sounded like a tremendous amount of cloth on the ground.  “Here’s some more clothes,” he announced.  Something crinkled obnoxiously.  “And one souvenir NASA foil blanket.  That and the heating coil should keep you nice and toasty.”  He started to leave again and paused.  When he spoke, his voice had turned younger and defensive.  “Look.  You can’t sleep in my ship, okay?  You did sort of try to kill me and my friends last time we met.  So… yeah.  Sorry.”

She just nodded.  Once he was gone, she took advantage of what he had left behind.  The foil blanket was the worst.  It crunched every time she shifted.  But it did keep out the wind, and once the heating coil got going she stayed warm.  She ate her rations slowly.  Narti was exhausted.  Even so, she sat awake for a long time.

She was up again long before the paladin emerged from the lion the next morning, yawning loudly.  “Very fashionable,” he commented sagely.  “Hey, wow, you even made your bed.  Nice.”  Narti had put away what clothes she hadn’t used and had even folded and tucked away the awful, life-saving blanket.  

Narti tugged at the ends of the sleeves.  Nothing he had brought out was long enough for her limbs, and she’d had to make room for her tail.  But the clothes fit over the bodysuit without trouble, and it was warmer than the bodysuit alone.

Kova trotted over to the paladin expectantly.  The paladin did not disappoint.  He crouched down immediately and began rubbing behind Kova’s jaw and ears.  “Aw, hey there!  Who’s a cute kitty?  You are!”  Kova accepted the attention with a stream of smug purring.

Narti reflected that Kova had put her in a lot of situations lately, but sticking around a former enemy because he spoiled him even more than Narti did was definitely a new one.

“I’m Hunk,” the paladin announced suddenly.  “So… what’s your name?”

Narti turned her head toward him and did not reply.

“Cool, cool.”  He huffed and landed on the ground with a thud.  “Looks like we’re both stuck out here for a while.”

Narti pointed to the lion.

“Yeah,” Hunk sighed.  “But the lion can’t make a wormhole.  Do you have any idea how long it would take to find everybody going sublight?  Even if he  _ didn’t _ need repairs.”  He patted the lion again.  “And then there’s that stupid magnetic asteroid field.  That’s  _ definitely _ blocking part of my signal.”

Narti tapped a finger on her knee impatiently.  She wanted more information, but she had very few options.  As a general, she had been given exactly what she needed to know for a mission.

“Don’t worry, they’ll find us,” Hunk assured her.  “And I don’t normally say that.  But that asteroid belt is interfering in a two-dimensional ring, so as soon as they move anywhere on the z-axis….  Aaand you totally can’t see how I’m gesturing.”

Narti shook her head smartly.

“Funny,” he remarked, exasperated.  “Do you ever talk?”

She shook her head again.  Kova left their conversation to examine the lion from all possible angles.

Hunk was silent for a moment.  “How did you talk to Lotor?” the paladin asked at last.

Narti hesitated.  She had never been required to tell Lotor much, not with words.  She had accomplished things for him.  He hadn’t needed her to  _ talk _ .  She held one hand flat and with her other mimed pressing buttons on a holopad.

“You wrote things down?  Good, because—Lance can tell you—I am  _ not _ great at charades.”  Something small clicked.  Narti was tempted to see what but didn’t want to trouble Kova for it.  “I can actually read Galran.  I’m a slow reader, but I know the alphabet.”  There was another stretch of silence, then he blurted out, “Hold on.  How can you write things down if you can’t see?”

Narti pointed at Kova.

“Wait...”  Something clicked again.  He had put his holopad back up, she realized.  “Your cat can write?”

She waited him out.

“Okay, never mind.  Just checking.  So, like… you have with your cat what I have with my lion?”

Narti cocked her head.  She supposed he must have a connection with the lion, if he had noticed her mental investigation earlier.  Hunk himself had no telepathic ability that she could sense, just as Kova didn’t.  She nodded slowly.

“Huh.  Hmm.”  He made a number of other thoughtful noises for a long while.  Eventually, he said, “I guess you could pen-and-paper write without your cat to see with, but I totally left all my notebooks back home and  _ nobody _ uses that stuff around here.  And it’s going to be weird not knowing anything you’re thinking.”  A wrapper crinkled, and his voice continued, muffled with food.  Jerky, by the smell of it.  “What if you need to tell me something important?  Like, ‘Hey, the transmitter’s broken,’ or... ‘Actually, Haggar’s my favorite person.’”

Narti lifted her tail at the name.  Kova caught the gist of her thoughts and hissed.

Hunk swallowed audibly.  “Okay,” he said slowly.  “That’s… uh, clear.  Understood.”  The heating coil turned off with a click.  “Anyway, what I’m saying is there’s a trade sign language.  Not all species can vocalize, right?  But most intelligent species have hands.  Or things like hands.  So tons of people who do interstellar business pick up this sign language.”

Narti did not react.  She was thinking through the sudden possibility.

“Not  _ everybody  _ knows it,” Hunk went on.  “But Pidge and I picked it up a while ago on Tevet, and it’s pretty easy.”

After a moment, Narti touched the spot on her face where eyes were on most species.

“Yeah, you’d have to watch me do it at first,” he agreed.  “But once you learn it you can just…”  There was a rustling pause.  He was gesturing again.  The boy was not clever.  “Sign at me.  Or whoever.  So… what do you think?”

She thought.  And then she nodded.

It was a complicated endeavor that required Kova’s cooperation.  It was Kova who watched Hunk make specific hand signals while Narti listened to his explanation of them.  To draw a short horizontal line with your thumb was to indicate movement; to flick two fingers toward your mouth meant food.  She memorized the signals for greetings and farewells and a dozen basic words.  They were simple gestures; it was just a matter of keeping them all separate.  After a while of demonstrating, Hunk hesitated and asked, “Are you getting this?”

Narti raised one hand and made the sign for food and then the signal for a polite request.

_ Food, please _ .

“Wow,” he said sincerely.  “You learn fast.  Part of your ninja skill set?  You—”  He stopped when she signed it again, less patiently.  “Oh, you actually want… you actually want food.  Sorry, hang on.”  He tossed her a protein bar.

Kova tracked the movement.  Narti snatched it out of the air.   _ Thank you _ , she signed.  She ate half the bar in one bite.

“Did you… learn  _ everything _ I just showed you?” Hunk asked.  “Okay, smarty, how do you sign ‘Where am I?’”

It was three quick movements.   _ I am where _ .  She repeated back the rest of his lesson with one mistake, but rather than try to punish her, Hunk didn’t even seem to notice.

“ _ Wow _ ,” he said again.  “Just.  Holy moley.  Okay, next stop is the alphabet, because I  _ still _ don’t know your name.  Since it’s shared across a bunch of species, it’s purely phonetic, see?  So no one has to keep track of everyone else’s written language.”  With Kova watching, he ran her through some twenty-odd signals that each represented a specific sound.

“So mine’s like…”  He spoke slowly in a monotone and signed along.  “I am Hunk.  Nice to meet you.”  He sat back and folded his arms.  “Your turn.”

_ I am _ .  She had to think about the way her name  _ sounded _ , but after some hesitation, she spelled it out to him.

“Nnnarti?” he tried.  “That’s your name?”  She nodded, and he laughed a little nervously.  “Well, that’s better than Scary Faceless Lady.”

Narti sat perfectly still, head turned toward him, for a long, silent moment.

Hunk made an uncomfortable noise and moved away from her a few centimeters.  “Sorry.  What about your cat?”  She signed, and he repeated, “Kova?  Kova!”

Kova perked up, ready to be fussed over some more.

Even after Hunk stopped teaching her new signs, Narti was eager to use her new vocabulary.  She scouted the surrounding terrain with Kova, and even though there was no one to communicate with, she signed to herself.  She practiced translating her thoughts into words and sending them into open air for anyone to understand.  She had exhausted everything she could think to express by the time she returned to the lion near nightfall.

Kova trotted over to Hunk, trilling for attention.  He almost never made noise around Narti, but apparently he felt it was the only way to gain Hunk’s notice.  In between cooing over Kova, Hunk asked, “Anything out there?”

_ No people _ , Narti signed.   _ No ships _ .  She wanted to tell him that the land was not as flat as she had first imagined, but was interrupted with occasional gulches and cliffs that could make good cover if they needed it.  But she had no idea how to relay that.  After a moment of running through her vocabulary, she demanded,  _ More signs _ .

“Hold your horses,” Hunk retorted primly.  “Okay?  I’ll teach you some more tomorrow.”

They split the same rations as before.  Kova enjoyed them far more than either Hunk or Narti.  But Narti was healing, and so she was hungry enough to eat nearly anything.  She tore through various sticks and bars without tasting a thing. 

“Man, I hope they get here soon,” Hunk sighed.  “Not that hanging out with you is awful. I just really want to sleep in a bed.  And eat in a kitchen.  And not worry about being stranded on a deserted planet.  With somebody who could probably kill me, kind of thing.”

_ Definitely kill you _ , Narti corrected. 

“Wow, thanks  _ so  _ much, Narti.”

_ You're welcome.  _

He groaned.  “It's cool, it's cool.  I've got this,” he muttered.  “You got this, Hunk.”

Narti tapped the ground to get his attention.  The hand sign for what she had to say was not coming to her readily, and she did not want to convey this with any uncertainty.  After a few ticks, she lifted her hand and signed,  _ Survive _ .

“Uh, that’s the plan,” Hunk agreed.

She drummed her fingers harder in frustration.   _ Survive _ , she insisted.   _ People or no people.  You survive _ .

He whispered quietly to himself for a moment.  And then he bristled.  She sensed the open spike of anger in his presence.  “Hey, my friends  _ are _ coming,” he shot back.  “They’re my  _ friends _ .  They’re not just going to  _ forget  _ me.”

Narti had nothing to say to that.

Hunk stormed past her, muttering, “I’m going to bed.”  He turned on the heating coil on his way by.  Narti pondered that gesture as he boarded the lion.  The paladins were strange creatures, offering food to enemies and responding to insult by ensuring she would stay warm through the night.

_ I sleep _ , she signed to herself, just to practice.   _ Safe.  I survive. _  With or without friends, she had tried to tell Hunk.  He had to rely on himself and only himself.  Sage advice from someone who had been betrayed.

Poor advice from someone who had only made it this far by the unwarranted generosity of strangers.

Narti reluctantly got the loud blanket back out and set it around her shoulders as quickly as possible, before the noise could drive her mad.  She called for Kova, who prowled around searching for small animals to chase for a long while before finally joining her by the heating coil.  The nights here were too cold even for his restlessness.  Narti bundled them both up.  Perhaps the question of how best to survive was one for another time.  For now, she and the paladin would work together.

She wondered if there  _ was _ a right answer.


	4. IV

The next morning, Hunk seemed to have completely forgotten his anger with her.  Instead he busied himself with sighing mournfully over their rations.  He waited until Narti had finished breakfast to say, “Not that I’m complaining, because I did say you could have some food, but I really only packed for one.  There’s not a whole lot left.”

Narti’s first instinct was to regret not cutting down on her rations, but she knew herself, and she knew what her body needed in recovery.  She could not have eaten much less and still held on to her strength.  It was time for other solutions.  She made the hand sign for  _ kill _ .

“Uh,” Hunk put in, in a very small voice, “right now?”

She paused, torn between confusion and exasperation at his frightened childlike behavior.   _ Kill food _ , she clarified patiently.

“Oh!” he blurted out.  “You mean hunting!”  He laughed nervously.  “I knew that.  Yeah.  Hunting.”

_ Sign _ , she reminded him.  She prodded Kova as well, who was lurking nearby in case Hunk began distributing more food.

“Right, right.”  He demonstrated the signal for hunting and then one for animals.  “But, uh, I haven’t seen any animals around here.  I haven’t exactly seen  _ anything _ around here, as a matter of fact.”

She committed the new signs to memory.   _ Animals down. _

“Uh… underground?” he tried.  He made the sign for that, too.

_ Animals underground _ , she corrected.

“How can you tell?” he asked.

That struck her as a stupid question with no easy answer, and so she did not answer.  She just  _ knew _ .  She had observed with her senses that the dull presences and the muted shuffle of animals passed beneath them.  He might as well have asked her how she knew it was cold.

_ I hunt _ , she assured him.   _ Not gun, please _ .

“Not gun?” he repeated.  “Ooh!  Sword!  Sword, right?”

Narti watched him through Kova’s eyes, but she still had some difficulty parsing the sign for sword from his attempts to pantomime wielding a long blade.  After a moment, she told him,  _ Small sword _ .

“Oh,” he said, sounding disappointed.  “Yeah, whatever, I didn’t have a sword anyway.  Hang on.”

While Hunk looked for a suitable knife, Narti let Kova know they were going hunting.  Kova was ready instantly.  It would be good for him to chase down prey alongside Narti as though things were normal.  Narti stretched her limbs.  She was fit enough to hunt if she was careful.  Even the injury that had nearly killed her itched more than it hurt.  A couple of her ribs panged fiercely when she twisted a certain way, but with care, she could keep them from being knocked out of place.  By the time Hunk returned, she was impatient to go.

“I found a knife,” he said helpfully.  “Don’t stab me.”

She held out one hand without making any sudden movements and allowed him to hand her the knife.  Then with her other hand she patted his head reassuringly as though he were a surly stray.

“Augh!” he yelped, indignant.  “Hey!”

Narti was already gone, running lightly over the rocky ground, Kova at her side.  Kova read the shape of the land while Narti read the movements of the animal minds beneath them.  Together they guessed at the pattern of the tunnels.  She wondered at the strange coincidence of finding another planet where most of the life, and perhaps all of it in this case, took shelter underground.  How much life rested beneath her feet?  Would she find civilization farther down?

For now, it made no difference.  All that mattered was that there was food to be had.

They found a gully that looked as though it might have once been a river bed.  On closer inspection, it looked more like a sinkhole.  One of the tunnels had passed too close to the surface and caved in.  It was likely the best entry point they were going to get.  Narti dropped down into the ditch, landing in a half crouch to cushion her fall.  She flipped the knife over in her hand and tapped the pommel on the ground.  Kova hopped down beside her and listened intently as Narti tested different areas.

Narti heard the shape of the earth below.  Kova heard the scratching of startled creatures.  When they had found the thinnest spot, Narti kicked it through.  Rock and dirt crumbled, exposing part of a tunnel.  The creatures within fled.  Narti felt her way inside the opening.  After that, the sound and moving air were her guides.  She had to bend down to fit into the space, and it took her a moment to adjust to an angle that wouldn’t aggravate her ribs.  Then she took off.  Kova bounded behind her.

The tunnels were worn and rough, dug out by passing animals over years and generations.  They wound this way and that, full of damp air and darkness.  At times they came across more cave ins blocking the way, but for the most part these were the paths the native fauna had carved out on their way to food or water.  Perhaps the constant passing was what had worn these tunnels broad and nearly high enough for Narti.

Something gave a loud, shuddering hiss ahead of them.  Perhaps the tunnel’s usual occupants were larger than she had expected.

Narti slowed her pace to silence her steps and followed the sound.  As she drew closer, the weight behind the rock’s subtle vibrations belied the small scratching sounds she had heard from above.  This was no small burrowing animal.  She readied her grip on the knife and lifted her tail for balance as she leaned forward.  She stretched out her senses.

There was a presence to go with the noise—dull, animal.  Narti shared what she sensed with Kova, and from the sounds and smells and mental energies they assembled all they needed to know.  The creature had paused.  It was no longer hissing, and when it was satisfied there was no threat, it continued moving with a soft scraping sound.

That was when Narti followed.

The dim glow of its mind was a distance ahead when Narti used the knife to pin its tail.  The animal jerked in surprise and writhed around toward her, hissing loudly.

It could turn around in the tunnel.  Good.  Then it wasn’t quite big enough to crush her against the walls.

Narti yanked the knife free and flattened herself against the rock just as the thing shot by her.  Claws grazed her stomach, but she doubted they had so much as broken the skin.  She launched herself against the long, lithe body and held it in place.  The head of the creature was much closer now, and it was ready to strike again.

She spun, rolling her weight closer to the mind she sensed.  When she came around, her arm was extended and the knife was flipped into a back grip.  The blade sunk into flesh.  The presence faded to nothing.

The animal had not been too large to easily kill, but it was a hassle to drag it back to the surface.  Since there were no predators there, and something besides the meat of the animal might prove useful, Narti opted to bring it whole back to the camp and clean it there.  Fortunately she and Kova had not wandered too far.  When Narti could sense the lion again, she dropped the creature and got to work.  Kova allowed her to see what she was doing and got the scraps for a reward.

Hunk approached with a gritty crunch of boots that was only a little louder than his open mind.  “Holy crap, did you kill a  _ giant snake _ ?” he called.  “What are you—oh.”  He made a choked noise.  “Oh, boy, you’re just—I gotta go.”  He stumbled away, groaning.

_ You’re welcome _ , she signed.  Children.  The empire had been halfway routed by kits.

Narti took her time.  Scales were not much use for the cold, so the skin she discarded.  The bones were too fine to be practical as tools.  In the end, it was only the meat, carved into slabs, that she carried the rest of the way back to camp.  She had kept every ounce of fat on them that she could find, which wasn’t much.

“So,” Hunk began when she arrived, “I didn’t find a giant snake or anything, but I found some salt while you were gone.  And my cooking supplies.”

She cocked her head at him.

There was the clang of metal on metal.  “Let’s do this,” he intoned solemnly.

Hunk seemed much less put off by unrecognizable cuts of meat than by the whole animal being cleaned.  He put something in a pan and used the heating coil to warm it.  He hummed music while he worked.

Narti rapped on the ground for his attention and spelled out  _ S-A-L-T _ .

“Salt,” he repeated.  “Kova!  Kova, come here, precious baby!  Show Narti this one.  Salt.”  He showed the sign to Kova and scratched his chin for his trouble.  Kova purred brightly.

_ Salt, please _ , Narti signed.   _ For the animal _ .  She pointed at the meat.

“I will, I will, don’t worry,” he assured her.  “I’m going to spice this baby up like you wouldn’t believe.  Whatever it tasted like before, it’s going to taste like chicken marsala now.”

At times even partial sign language couldn’t get her point across.   _ Salt _ , she repeated.   _ Good food later _ .

“ _ Oh _ , like to save it.”  Hunk made a dismissive noise.  “We don’t have to do that.  I have a fridge!  This isn’t the dark ages.  Let’s put this stuff up before I really get started.  It’s… you know, it’s in the lion, so come on.”

Despite his hesitation, he did not sound insincere.  Narti rose, gathered the meat, and followed him into the lion of Voltron.

“Okay, so what I  _ really  _ have is a tiny storage cabinet carved out by a cooling pipe,” he admitted as they boarded.  The lion’s presence was even stronger in here, and it turned its vague awareness on her.  “But it chills everything at a  _ perfect _ four degrees above freezing.  Best modification I ever made.  I had some pizza in there, not really pizza but basically pizza, but I finished it off before Kova found you.  Sorry about that.  I eat a lot when I’m nervous.  Sorry about the mess.  I’ve kind of been living in here for like a week.”

It smelled a little musty, but mostly it smelled of the meat she was carrying with both hands.  The silence stretched out.

“Oh, right,” Hunk said suddenly.  He knocked on something metallic.  “Here’s the fridge.  Sorry.”  She followed the sound, and they loaded all but two cuts into cold storage.  Those two Hunk declared dinner, and he paraded them back out to the heating coil.  The air was starting to smell savory already.  There was a hiss as Hunk put the cuts into the pan.

He started humming again.  After a moment, he tossed something light at Narti.  “Your napkin, madam,” he declared.  “To get all the blood and gross stuff off your hands.”  It was a damp cloth that smelled strongly of antibacterial solution.  Narti used it gratefully while Hunk went back to cooking.  He occasionally burst into muttered singing or tapped the pan in a rhythm.  Kova was already napping nearby, tired from hunting and content with his dinner.  It took Narti a long moment to realize that she, too, was truly still and relatively content.  For the first time since she had woken up a captive of the druids, she felt calm.  No driving urge to flee chewed at her; no despair marred her patience.  It was not perfect.  There was so much uncertainty, and it stood poised to swallow her up if she examined it too closely.  But this—no twitching, no immediate fear, no defensiveness—was a start.

“One mystery marsala!” Hunk announced.  There was some scraping and clanking.  “Here.  It’s a plate.”

Narti held out a hand in Hunk’s direction, avoiding the heating coil.  A heavy plastic disc landed in her hand.  She felt around a little more a discovered a utensil of the same material.

“Oh, man,” Hunk was saying reverently.  “Now  _ this _ is what dinner should smell like.”  He audibly shoved something in his mouth and hummed.  “Oh, yeah.  Just right.  I mean, it could really use some mushrooms, but still—”

Narti took a bite.

As a companion to Lotor’s exile, she had been allowed a much greater variety of food than the Galra in the imperial military.  Their soldiers lived on quintessence-infused rations that kept them fed and in line without being much more than a nutrient mush.  Narti had traveled across a good portion of the galaxy and taken food where she needed it.  It was first and foremost a matter of sustenance.  She had assumed that taste was relative to need.  Chok’s simple meals had tasted good because her healing body had not eaten in too long.  She was not unusually hungry right now.

But this was the best thing she had ever tasted.

She wolfed down half of the meal without even thinking.  The meat was tender and saturated with a smooth blend of flavors that spilled over into a rich sauce.  Too soon, her plate was clean of every scrap and drop.   _ Good food _ , she told him.  She signed it twice more to be sure her point was getting across.

Hunk gasped.  “You really liked it?”

_ Good food _ , she repeated pointedly.

After that, everything found its place in a routine.  They ate well; Hunk never seemed to cook the same thing twice, and it was all delicious.  He taught her the trade sign language until he was forced to pull out his holopad and teach from his reference.  They checked on the signal he was broadcasting from his lion, but that, at least, was in good repair.  Narti salvaged what she could from Chok’s ship all the same.  It was better to have the spare parts if they needed them.

“Anything we can use to fix my lion?” Hunk asked hopefully when she returned with a pack full of mechanical odds and ends.

She put the pack down carefully.   _ I don’t know _ , she signed.

“Oh yeah, I guess not,” he allowed.  He walked over and began rifling through the bag.  He made a vague, disappointed noise.  “This isn’t exactly Altean tech.  But maybe I can use some of this to boost—”

From within the lion came a voice.  Narti’s head snapped up, immediately alert.  There was no presence to go with the voice, which could only mean that it was coming through the communications system.  Hunk bolted for the cockpit.  Narti swiftly followed.

“—can hear me, this is Allura,” came the tinny voice from the communication systems.  Hunk stopped his full run by all but crashing into the dashboard with a thud.  “We got your transmission.”

“Allura?” Hunk called.  “Oh man, I love hearing your voice right now.  Allura?  Can you hear me?”

“We’re in the middle of ferrying a whole population.  It’s a medical emergency,” the voice continued in the same harried but professional tone.

Narti touched Hunk’s shoulder with one hand.   _ One way _ , she signed with the other.  She felt his shoulder drop.

The message went on.  “As soon as we’re done here, we’ll come pick you up.  We have your coordinates.  It shouldn’t be more than a couple of quintants.”

“Hang in there, buddy!” a new voice burst in, more harried and less professional than the last.  “We’re coming for you!”

“ _ La-a-a-ance! _ ” Hunk wailed.  There was a slighter thud; he had slumped further against the dashboard.  He played the message back again, but they had only missed a few words.  He sniffled.  “I knew they didn’t forget me.  They really got my message.  Two more—what, days?  I can’t wait.  I miss them so much.  I am going to hug  _ every single one  _ of them.  Even the Blades.  Oh, man.”

Narti saw herself out.

Kova had come around from his wanderings to see what all the fuss was about.  Narti stroked him fondly.  She reassured him that everything was all right.  She wasn’t sure what else she could communicate to him, mostly because she wasn’t sure what this meant for them.

Until now, she had shied away from thoughts of her future.  There were too many possibilities and too many more immediate concerns.  But despite the icy chill of fear that crept back up her spine, now was the time for such thoughts.  Narti did not get any sleep for a while.

The next day, after working through more sign language, they ate the last of Hunk’s dry rations.  Narti was uncommunicative, but she did not need to contribute much; Hunk was ablaze with energy.  “Just think,” he was saying, voice dreamy around a mouthful of protein bar, “ _ beds _ .  Climate control.  A fully stocked kitchen.   _ Blankets _ .  And no offense, but I get to hear somebody else say something.”

_ Whine, whine _ , she signed dismissively.  Kova watched her movements; Narti reached over and briefly scratched the top of his head.

“Not that your company hasn’t been great,” Hunk said diplomatically.  “I’m just saying.  There are a  _ lot _ of people in the castle right now.  Do you know how many conversations that is?”  He took another bite and added, “Oh, yeah, when we dock, let me go first, okay?  Allura’s not always great with Galra.  And the Blades are super cool, but they’re also, like, super stabby.”

Silence fell for a while.  Narti rested her own half-eaten protein bar on her knee, immediately drawing Kova’s attention.  The wind chilled her back.  For all the time she’d had to adjust to the cold, it still wasn’t close to comfortable.  Finally, she asked,  _ I go with you? _

“Well, yeah,” Hunk replied as though it were obvious.  “We totally bonded.  I’m not going to just  _ leave  _ you here.”  His tone turned a shade more serious.  “You know, you should really think about joining the resistance.  It’s a lot nicer than the other side.”  His armor clacked gently with a broad motion.  She could guess he was shrugging.  He still wasn’t clever.  “ _ But _ that’s up to you.  Either way, when the castle gets here, you’re coming, too.”

_ No _ , she signed.

He managed a wordless noise of confusion.  “What do you mean,  _ no _ ?”

She did not answer, piecing her words together, and Hunk went on, “It’s okay.  It’ll be fine!  And you don’t  _ have _ to join the resistance.  Just… think about it.”

She remained stubbornly motionless.

He groaned in aggravation.  A wrapper crinkled decisively; he had started cleaning up the waste from their lunch.  Narti ate the rest of her bar at her own pace.  Kova came to understand that the lunch he had been given was the only one he was getting, and so wormed his way into the foil blanket to take a nap.  After a time, Hunk sat back down heavily, a little closer to her than normal.

“You know, Narti,” he began, “you’re pretty cool.”  His voice was sad for someone who acted so young most of the time.  “You haven’t killed me this whole time.  You got us some food.  You’re really handy.  And you’re hilarious.  Even though you’re a jerk sometimes.”

_ Thank you _ , she signed smartly.

He blew out an amused breath.  “Plus your cat is  _ adorable _ .”

_ Kova is good _ , she agreed.

Hunk sighed.  “I guess what I’m saying is… you’re a good  _ person _ .  You’re not all evil and power-hungry like everyone else who’s tried to kill us.”

She had nothing to say to that.  It wasn’t a light she had ever considered herself before.  She was skilled.  She was loyal.  She was efficient.  She had never measured herself by her morality.

“So how did you end up working for  _ Lotor _ ?” he asked at last.

Narti slowly curled her tail around to one side.  She kept her hands still until she was ready.  And then she signed,  _ Don’t interrupt _ .

“I won’t,” Hunk promised.  “Turning the mouth off. Right now.”

When she was certain he meant it, she began,  _ Long ago, I am young.  I leave home.  I go to the Galra _ .

Hunk started to ask why but just managed to catch himself.  It was a fair question.  She had grown up with her mother’s people.  She had learned their ways first.  And one of the first thing she had learned was that when the dalladh thought of themselves, of the mindspace,  _ us _ did not include  _ her _ .  She was only halfway part of their world.

_ My father is Galra _ , she explained.   _ I do not know him.  I think _ .  She paused, lining up the gestures.   _ I think I am more Galra than not _ .

But her father walked the worlds’ surfaces and spoke aloud and saw with eyes Narti had never developed.  She was no more Galra than she was dalladh, which was to say not enough.

_ I work underground _ , she signed.  She had been a scout and safety tester in the mines, someone they could afford to spare.  But she had been too strong to be gotten rid of.   _ I am young.  I am alien.  I do not speak. _  Though she thought it hardly needed to be spelled out, she added,  _ They pay me very little _ .

Hunk hummed in earnest agreement.

_ I find Kova _ , she continued.   _ Kova is good.   _ She searched her vocabulary but couldn’t find a way to explain the mental bond that formed between them and how much it had meant that she had finally found such a thing, frustrated and far from home.   _ No one else.  I want more _ .

_ I am older.  Lotor finds me.  He says… _  She hesitated.

It was his voice that had done it.  It was low and graceful, but there had been fire beneath his velvet tone.  She had heard parts of herself in its sharpness, intelligence, and ambition.  “You are wasted here,” he had sneered.  The derision in his voice hadn’t been for her, but for her employers.  “People don’t even look at you, do they?  They can’t see endless potential right in front of them.  Come with me.  Come with me and we’ll show them what you can do.”

_ He says I can have more _ .

But it had evolved beyond even that.  In finding herself she had made herself his will, executed.   _ With Lotor, I have value.  I have purpose _ .

“You don’t need Lotor for that!” Hunk blurted out.

She pointed at him meaningfully.

“Sorry, sorry.”  He fell silent again.

She shook her head.  It wasn’t a story she had told before, and there was no more to tell.   _ Finished _ , she signed with a strange weariness.

“Oh.”  His boots scuffed against the ground as he shifted.  “Where are you gonna go now?  Home?”

_ I have no home _ , she replied.

“Oh,” he said again.  “Hey, I’ll… I’ll be right back.”  He hopped to his feet and left, jogging up the boarding ramp into the lion.

It was a decidedly un-Hunk-like response to a serious conversation.  Narti cocked her head curiously at the distant sounds of his rummaging through storage.  He returned with enthusiastic, clipping steps.  “I’ve been saving these,” he began explaining before he had even sat back down.  “They’re from my super secret homeworld.  So until we find a way back, this is my only bag.  I was keeping it for when I really needed it.”  He opened the bag with a pop and inhaled deeply.  “Still good.  Smell that?”

Narti sniffed delicately.  A strange, tangy aroma rose from the bag.  She tilted her head in a question.

“Yeah, try one!” he urged.  “We’ll split the bag.”

She reached out and plucked from the bag some sort of small, dust-covered stick.  She popped it in her mouth.  Immediately it exploded into an unfamiliar salty flavor, and the stick crunched delightfully all the way through.

Her enjoyment must have shown, because Hunk said knowingly, “Magic orange powder.  It’s on so many chip flavors back home.  But I can’t get it right.”  He bit down loudly and continued, “So this is it.  We’ve got to savor this.”

And they did.  Between them they ate the whole bag in relative silence.  Out of respect for his generosity, Narti took only one stick at a time and those slowly.  Even so it didn’t take long to finish them off.  It wasn’t a very big bag.

_ Thank you _ , she signed.

“What, for the Cheetos?” he asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

With her non-powdered hand, she ruffled his hair.

“I’m not a cat!” he complained.

Narti ignored him and stood up to stretch.  She dusted the remnants of the sticks off her fingers while Hunk recited a eulogy for the empty bag.  Since they had plenty of food and a rescue was on the way, they spent the rest of the day beside the lion, conversing or sitting in companionable silence.

The next morning, before dawn, Narti vanished from the camp.


	5. V

Now that Narti was whole and healed, now that she knew her future was hers alone, she could not bear to live on reaction alone.  She had to think.  More importantly, she had to decide.  And she could not do that by taking every passing chance.

Too, she was afraid.  It was the same nameless fear that had urged her to escape Chok before she was given too much.  And it had started eating at her again when the transmission had come through, when Hunk had started speaking of friends and teams.

She left behind everything that belonged to Hunk.  The only thing she took with her was the pack of spare parts from Chok’s ship.  Once the paladins were gone, she could repair the communications system and find her own way out.

Behind her, Kova meowed.  Narti stopped and turned her attention to her companion.  Kova almost never made noise.  Now he gave another forlorn meow.  Narti told him to stay quiet and kept moving.  Their lives were not in peril this time, but they still had to pass unnoticed.

She did not want to make the trip back to Chok’s ship much longer than necessary, so she scouted a nearby drop where the land offered cover and hunkered down to wait.  The air had finally started to warm when the rumble of something large entering the atmosphere echoed behind her.  Kova kneaded his front paws unkindly on Narti’s thigh but remained hidden despite his displeasure.

Narti sat, still and alert, and waited for the ship to take off again, this time with Hunk and his lion in tow.  She wasn’t sure why Hunk hadn’t joined them in orbit, unless his lion was in worse disrepair than he had let on.

Her answer came with distant shouts.  A voice rose over the rocky ground, too far to be really heard.  She kept waiting.  After a long time, the soft crunch of boots approached, along with a presence.  “Stupid,” a voice muttered.  It was another paladin.

Narti listened intently, but no other voices accompanied it.

“We have to  _ go _ , Hunk,” the voice insisted.  It was rough and discomfited.

This time she caught the faintest suggestion of a tinny, frantic voice replying.  They were speaking over comm.

“If they wanted to come they would’ve stayed with the lion!” the paladin growled.  “We’re wasting time.”

The other paladin didn’t want to find her.  Narti felt her chances with this one were better than her chances of finding new cover unseen.  She relaxed and stayed where she was.  Now she could hear clearly that the voice on the other end of the comm was Hunk, his words cracking with emotion.  Something in her felt heavy.  She turned her head away.

But when the red paladin rounded the corner, Kova was watching him.  She saw his rounded, wary stance and his alert survivor’s gaze.  He stared at Narti and Kova both.

“Anything?” came Hunk’s voice.

Narti continued to face away.  After a few ticks, the red paladin said, “No,” and padded away from them, steps quieter than before.  “There’s nothing here.  Give it up, Hunk.  Let’s go.”

She couldn’t hear Hunk’s response.  It was just as well.  She was thinking that was very much something Acxa would have done for her.  For all her intensity and drive and focus, Acxa had always known whether to leave Narti alone or stand beside her.

Narti leaned her head back against the cold rock.  Had Acxa seen reason in Lotor’s actions?  Had Ezor taken Narti’s apparent death as lightly as she took everything else?  When Zethrid inevitably spoke her mind, what had she said?  Once she might have known, but Narti was sure of so much less than she had been.

When the Altean ship left again, Narti rose, stretched stiff limbs, and started back to Chok’s ship.  Halfway back, Kova perked up for the first time that day and trotted back toward where Hunk’s camp had been.  Narti would have called him back, but when she slipped into Kova’s senses, she saw the camp was not empty.

It was not much.  There was a protein bar—the last one, if she recalled correctly—the accursed foil blanket, and a portable transmitter.  Clever boy.

Narti brought the supplies to Chok’s ship.  Unless the transmitter had more power than its size suggested, she had work to do.  The ship was absolutely ruined, but it offered shelter from the wind, and that was all she could ask for while she tinkered.

Night had not fallen again when  _ another _ ship rumbled through the air.  Narti tensed and prepared to dart further aft, but the comm system crackled to life beneath her hands.  A voice said, “Uh, hello?  Been sent to pick somebody up.  By, uh, you know,  _ Voltron _ .  Anybody there?  Ride’s been paid for.  Zero fee.  For somebody.”

Narti shook her head and flipped on the transmitter.

The ship, a rickety by-order transport, found her soon enough.  A single buzzing presence was the only one within.  Kova curled uncertainly over her shoulder.  A landing ramp lowered, and Narti and the pilot exited their ships at the same time.  She could hear the pilot’s stomping, uneven gait even over the wind.

“Are you it?” the pilot said.  She was all but yelling.  “‘Cause getting here sucked and I’m not swinging around for anybody.”

Narti nodded.

“Okay, get in here before we freeze to death!”

_ Where? _ Narti signed.

There was a pause.  Narti wondered if her new language had failed her.  But then the pilot retorted, “Where do you think?  In my ship!  We’re not taking yours!  It’s half a shake away from being on fire!”

_ Then where? _ Narti clarified.

“Wherever you want to go.  Like I said, ride’s paid for.”

After a long moment, Narti nodded.

The pilot asked no other questions until they had left the system.  She was too busy warbling in distress at the asteroids.  “No wonder you got wrecked.  Nav, add this to my list of no-go systems.”  The computer beeped in acknowledgement  The pilot let out a long, annoyed noise.  “Where to?”

Narti did not respond at once.  When she had no other answer, she spelled out,  _ D-A-L-L-A _ .

“Hoo,” the pilot said, with feeling.  “All right, I’m allowed in there, so no problem.  Where am I putting down?  The outpost?”

_ I will show you _ , Narti replied.

“Right, right.”  The cockpit filled with noise as the pilot put in new coordinates and adjusted the drives.  “Burn that bridge when we get to it and all that.”

They had no cause to speak after that.  The pilot filled the silence with loud, thudding music.  It was a long trip to Dalla, and eventually Narti retired to the small aft section of the ship to get some quiet.  Kova came with her and dropped from her shoulder to her lap as soon as she sat down.  Narti intertwined their minds comfortably.

For now, Dalla.  And then what? 

She didn't know, and of course Kova didn't either.  But that frightened her a little less than it had.  She couldn't stay there, but perhaps it would help her find her way.  Narti kept track of the ship’s movements but otherwise relaxed.  Kova was uncomfortable at being on yet another ship, especially an unfamiliar one, but he let Narti soothe him.

They dropped to sublight.  Narti heard the engines transition and felt the shift.  She gathered Kova and returned to the cockpit.

“So, really,” the pilot said at once as if hours of silence hadn’t just passed between them, “where am I landing?  ‘Cause the orbital traffic controller sounds real testy and I didn’t get paid for ticking off Galra.”

_ Me neither _ , Narti signed, though she knew she was the only one who would see it as a joke.  She knew where to land—knew the shape of the earth and where to find it on the dark, lichen-covered world she had known first—but she was not sure how to tell the pilot.  And they had limited time before the outpost declared them suspicious.  Narti reached for the pilot.

“Hey—!” the pilot managed, but then Narti’s hand was gripping the back of her neck.

This was what a dalladh could sense all the time, with a little effort.  The pilot’s mind was open to her senses, every depth and fleeting thought.  It had seemed to buzz from the outside, emitting a restless energy; now that energy was hot and sparking, like electricity, never settling on a single path but branching into a hundred memories and emotions and thoughts.  Narti did not chase that energy.  She did not seek to know anything.  She was here for one purpose only.

She pried her way into the pilot’s senses and looked over the display.  If the outpost was  _ here _ , then she needed to be slightly north and— _ there _ .

She let go of the pilot once she was sure she had communicated what she needed.  Altogether it took two or three ticks.

The pilot slapped her hand away belatedly and squawked.  “Got… I got it,” she managed.  She transmitted their planned approach to the controller.  “Sit over there.”  She pointed to the other seat in the cockpit and shrunk back when Narti passed by her to obey.

There was no music.  The descent was oddly silent except for the dull roar of atmospheric entry.  Narti began to sense she had erred somewhere.  She realized that she had never accessed the mind of an ally.  She hardly ever used that ability outside battle.  And while the pilot was no ally, especially not long-term, perhaps she had not earned the shock of an invasion usually reserved for enemies.

_ Sorry _ , she signed.   _ My mind is faster than my hands _ .

“Right, right.”  The pilot released a gust of a sigh and continued reproachfully, “ _ But _ you’re kind of supposed to knock before you just barge into someone’s… their ship or their house or their brain.  Double for the brain, at  _ least _ double.”

Narti was nonplussed but accepted the rebuke without asking questions.

They landed in continuing silence.  She was halfway down the ramp when the pilot called, “Take care.”

Narti was somewhat taken aback by the farewell.   _ Thank you _ , she signed.

“Don’t thank me, thank Voltron.”  And with that, she was gone.  The ascending ship blasted hot air across the surface of Dalla.

Dalla.  Narti waited for the air to settle and then inhaled.  The smell was rich, full of life in all its cycles and the tang of the sun’s radiation.  Deep beneath her was the thrum of a thousand powerful minds.  Even from this distance they affected the space like a physical heat.  Memories stirred like silt under disturbed water.

Kova remained perched on her shoulder.  This was not his world, and he did not care for it.  But once Narti started walking, Kova shared his sight.  They found a road soon enough, and Narti started down.

It was a large tunnel, constructed instead of carved by use.  It was shaped to catch and angle sound, perfect for Narti’s senses.  A feeling she could not name swept through her.  There were no lights, and in a hundred meters, Kova’s sight was useless.  But Narti knew exactly where she was.

Her pace picked up.  She was the guide now, leading them by the brush of air and the echo of her footsteps.  Soon she was running, taking turns by instinct alone.  Her feet rang softly on the stone floor.  She felt like a child again.

Even when the tunnels softened and quiet biolights glowed—some the natural, bright fungi of the deep underground, some chemically powered lights—she did not need Kova’s help.  She knew the way.  As she ran, she cast her senses ahead, searching.  She could feel the dalladh but couldn’t contact them.  She had never been able to do so under her own power, unless she was touching someone; but if they were close enough, pure dalladh had enough to spare.  The only mind ahead of them belonged to an animal.  Kova perked up when he saw it, but the creature only examined them for a tick before vanishing further down.

That was no ordinary animal.  It was bonded.  Someone had seen them.  Narti slowed after that.  She did not know what kind of reception she would find down there.

The city appeared slowly in increasingly complex tunnel branches and the scattered presences of dalladh.  They pressed at her mind curiously.  She ignored them.  She had no power to stop them, and she was not here for them.  They could sense for themselves that she meant no harm.

Stone and damp earth alternated under her steps.  Water ran nearby—twin streams carving their own paths deeper and wider with geological slowness.  Chemical power fizzled, a softer and more subtle sound than the quintessence-powered devices of the Galra.

By the time she came to the center of the complex, news had spread, and more familiar minds had begun to gather to meet her.  She knew them, or at least the people they had been long ago.  Kova clung tightly to her, claws digging through the bodysuit.  Narti took a glance through Kova’s eyes and saw a semicircle of beings who looked very much like her.  They were larger, and their posture was tilted farther forward than most bipedal species, but she saw the resemblance.  It wasn’t their appearance that put Kova on edge.  This group was not so indifferent as those they had passed on the way in.  They remembered Narti not with the wary acceptance they had once shown her, but as Galra spawn, mind unformed, a burden with an unnatural desire for solitude.  Alien.  Ungrateful.

They made Narti’s search easier.  The space around her rang with their thoughts.  Shining among them was a single approaching presence that swirled with better things than distrust.

Narti passed through the gathered dalladh like a ghost and let her mother bring her forehead to her own.

There was so much to take in.  The nuance of her mother’s emotion rivaled her own, a choking flood of feeling that she couldn’t even begin to dissect.  When her mother reached out for her with a tangle of meaning that came together as  _ You’re back _ , it was an age of regret and fear in her absence.  It was mingled joy and anger and incredulity, embittered by the knowledge that she would not stay this time, either.

And when Narti thought  _ I’m back _ , she did not simply mean here and now.  She had come back to herself, too.

The lightest of touches brushed her foot.  Narti crouched down to give her mother’s familiar a friendly pat.  It was a long, six-legged reptilian creature that she remembered as being much more laid back than Kova, if not more cooperative.

Something flashed through the mindspace, a warning Narti didn’t quite catch.  As she stood up, the other dalladh returned to their own business, leaving her alone with her mother—though several animals remained behind, watching.

Her mother pulled her close again as though she were still a child.  Narti allowed it, because it was not about her usefulness or accomplishments—just about her.  She cared for Kova with that same regard.  She opened that feeling to him now to show her that all was well.  Wordless emotions and reassurances passed between Narti and her mother.  The ways they had missed each other blurred together.

Then her mother asked why she had returned.

The answer was complicated, but here Narti didn’t have to rely on her knowledge of sign language.  It was easy to remember why she had left.  But at some point since, she had lost her way.  Perhaps this was a way of starting again at the beginning.  She had to know who she was without her duty—without Lotor.  And she didn’t know where else to start.

She was tired.  She wanted certainty.  And even though her people’s suspicion—tripled since she had chosen the Galra oppressors over them—would eventually drive her out again, she didn’t want to leave.  She leaned into her mother’s warm, familiar presence and thought,  _ Tell me what to do _ .

Her mother exuded a deep sadness.  If there had ever been a time for her mother to direct her life, that was long past.  This was not the beginning.  There was no undoing everything that had happened since they had last seen each other.  She pressed her forehead to Narti’s in apology.

Narti’s weariness only increased.  But if this was not the beginning, then neither was it the end.  This was still Narti’s life to figure out.  She offered her mother her forgiveness and acceptance.  She was not ready to give up yet.  Like everyone else without a given purpose, she would just have to guess.


	6. VI

It took Narti a long time to make it to her destination.

First she received supplies on Dalla—food, proper clothes, and a dusty old adaptor in case she had to use a console.  In return she promised she would not vanish for so long this time.  Then she had to acquire some things for herself.  She slipped through colony worlds without attracting undue attention.  Even when someone noticed her, they instinctively kept out of her way.  It seemed some steady confidence was returning to her movements.

When her errands were done, she had a little money of her own and was armed.  She felt better with a blade or two.  Only then did she start tracking rumors like the scent of prey.  And they were easy to follow, now that this war was open battle and not just a resistance.

Navigating her reception took even less effort.

For one moment, she stood in the Altean hangar, Kova on her shoulder, and faced down a grim contingent of the Blade of Marmora, and the air hummed in a prelude to battle.  Then Hunk barreled forward and wrapped his arms around her waist—he all but tackled her, really—which she gathered was more or less the equivalent to touching foreheads among his people, and it was all over.  The promise of violence fell apart in her slight stumble backward.

She patted Hunk on the shoulder and he finally let her go.  “I thought you weren’t coming!” he said.

_ I needed to think _ , she explained.

“Yeah, okay,” he allowed.  “Still.  Way to disappear on me, Batman.”

Narti was still working her way through that comment when the Altean princess began, “Hunk…”

“Oh, right.”  Hunk’s voice took on an overdone note of formality.  “Everyone, this is Narti.  And this is Kova, her cat.  Narti, Kova, this is everyone else.”

Narti waved.

The hangar paused, all its noise and mental activity dimming for a moment of shared uncertainty.  “A deserter?” asked a Galran voice.

_ Executed _ , Narti corrected viciously.  She heard him shift his weight.

“We trusted Shiro about Ulaz,” Hunk pointed out, “and he turned out to be really, really good.  Trust me, Narti’s the real deal.  I can tell.”

There was more silence.  Beside her, Hunk brimmed with defiant energy.  She got the sense that he was not signing, likely just glaring.  Finally, someone else approached her, footsteps too quick to be a Galra and too sure to be as young as Hunk.

“Welcome to the rebellion,” the black paladin said.  He had an even, decisive way of speaking, balancing confidence and care.  “I’m Shiro.”

Narti nodded.

Another paladin arrived with a little less grace.  His presence shimmered with constant movement.  “Hey.  The name’s Lance.”  He tried to force some depth into his voice.  “You could say I’m the ninja of the team.”

She remembered the voice on the transmission that had been desperate to find Hunk.  She nodded again, gravely.

Hunk introduced her to the green paladin, who reached out to clasp her hand and then pulled up short.  When the red paladin’s turn came, Narti had caught on to the gesture and grasped his forearm in greeting.  He eyed her in wary surprise and gripped back.

“He’s part Galra, too,” Hunk added.

“Hunk!” Keith hissed at the same time Narti signed,  _ Obvious _ .  It was in his stance, where he kept his weight, and the angle of his gaze.  The Galra had evolved from pack predators, and their blood had never forgotten it.

“And then there’s Allura and Coran,” Hunk continued.  “She’s a princess.  Allura, not Coran.  Coran’s great, too, though.”

“Pleasure to meet you!” announced a musically bombastic voice that certainly did not belong to the Altean princess.

The introductions stumbled to a quiet halt.  “Uh,” Hunk prompted into the silence, “Allura?”

Instead of greeting Narti, the princess said tightly, “Hunk, do you really think this is a coincidence?  We are less than a quintant away from the rendezvous.  And now one of Lotor’s generals just happens to show up?”

“But she’s not one of his generals,” Hunk pointed out firmly.  “She got  _ super  _ fired.”

“So you’re certain this isn’t part of his plan?” the Altean pressed.

“I’m sure!”

"Maybe she’s here to kill him,” Keith muttered.

“That would be pretty cool,” Hunk admitted.

“Allura,  _ please _ let us help Narti with her revenge quest,” Lance put in.

Allura emitted a long-suffering growl that did not fit at all with her station.  One of the Blades, the one who had spoken before, intoned, “We may yet eliminate Lotor.  But not until we get what we need from him.”

Narti closed one hand into a careful fist.  She angled the other behind her back and signed,  _ Lotor is here? _

“Not yet,” Hunk replied.  “He says he has a deal for us, but…”  His words trailed into the thoughtful quiet that had overtaken the rest of the hangar.

Shiro sighed.  “Maybe we should talk about this later.  Hunk, if you’re sure you trust her…”

Hunk hummed emphatically.

“Then maybe Coran can show her somewhere to stay.  We’ll sort this out in the morning.”  He sounded tired, and Narti realized he had already thought through the consequences of working with Lotor, several times.  Probably her scar was giving him another fact to consider endlessly.

Both their contemplations were interrupted by Coran boisterously announcing, “Right this way, miss!  Follow the sound of my voice!”

Narti did so without knowing whether his methods amused or irritated her.

The corridors of the Altean ship were no more difficult to read than those of a Galran dreadnought, and Coran made himself an easy target.  “You certainly picked an odd time to show up,” he was saying.  “If Lotor really did try to murder you, perhaps you ought to lay low until negotiations are over.  We can’t let him try again; it’d be bad manners.”  Just as Narti was considering the notion that the Empire really was in the process of being toppled by idiots, a sly note crept into the Altean’s voice.  “And if he  _ didn’t _ try to murder you, you’ll know his schedule, so do let us know when he’s dropping by.”

Narti, of course, didn’t answer.

Kova didn’t leave her shoulder until they were alone in their assigned quarters.  Once the door closed behind them and Narti was sure it could be locked from the inside, he hopped to the deck and began exploring.  Narti listened for the hum of quintessence, but if there was anything burning power besides the lights, she couldn’t hear it.  She could sense a presence down the hall, but not too close.  They were alone.

Narti sat on the bed.  And then, because she had last slept comfortably a lifetime ago, she lay down.  It fit her height, allowing her to stretch out for once.  It was wonderful.

It might not last.

Despite Hunk’s welcome and the team’s hospitality, she might have to keep guessing about her future.  If they allied themselves with Lotor, she would not stay.  Something had happened when she had first awoken on that abandoned planet.  She had changed, and she did not want to undo it.  It was possible she could convince the paladins to abandon the alliance, but if it came down to Lotor’s unfailing persuasiveness against her new ability with words, she didn’t like her odds.  That was no reason not to take on the challenge, though.

Kova joined her on the bed and began tearing the covers to shreds at once.  Narti felt his simple satisfaction with some amusement of her own.  Maybe Kova was wiser than she.  For now, she had a locked door, a warm bed, and her closest companion.  She would focus on resting.  More solutions would come later—not because survival claimed her attention, but because she had the time, and in a strange, uncertain way, she had allies.

She awoke as comfortably as she had fallen asleep.  Alertness came to her in a rush, along with the knowledge that more sleep would be pointless.  She got to her feet in a slow, rolling movement that stretched her back and limbs.  Kova was already waiting at the door, eager to explore beyond the small, bare quarters.  She let him wait.  She took a moment to freshen up.  There was a certain comfort in having supplies again, even if they were only enough to fill a small pack.  Narti was not one to spend long readying herself for the day, but even the return of her brief routine was a relief.  When she was satisfied, she let Kova out and followed after him.

The murmur of low conversation drifted from the end of the corridor, where she suspected at least one Galra had been made to keep tabs on her since her arrival.  She passed by without acknowledging them, and though she could practically feel their unwavering attention, they did not speak to her, either.

Beyond her guards, the ship was quiet.  Narti got the sense that it was early in the ship’s daily cycle.  It eased her wariness somewhat.  A flurry of activity would only have heralded Lotor’s arrival.

She and Kova found their way back to the hangar just to ensure that they could.  From there Narti judged by the vibration of the engines where the more central areas of the ship were, and they continued their journey.  It did not take long for the lively glow of minds to brush the edges of her awareness, and sound followed.  She could hear the sort of energetic ruckus that only came from youth or front-line soldiers.  She followed the sound of the paladins.  When she was as close as she could get, Kova, curious about all the noise, showed her a door and a simple touch mechanism.  But he stayed behind Narti as they slipped inside.

Narti knew at once by the smell that they had entered a training arena.  Boots scuffed on the hard floor.  Energy weapons fired on low power.  The room echoed with shouts of effort and warning—none of them louder than a single ringing yelp of pain.

“Lance, are you all right?” Shiro called.  He neither snapped nor fretted, instead raising a no-nonsense tone over the sound of mock battle.

“Ow,” Lance repeated, meaningfully.

Shiro sighed.  “Pay attention.”

“It’s too  _ early _ for sparring,” Lance protested.  “We haven’t even had space coffee.”  The green paladin grunted in agreement.

The moment Narti began to ease around the perimeter of the room, a familiar, steady presence brightened with recognition.  “Hey!  Narti!” Hunk called.

_ Good morning _ , she signed.  Kova yowled loudly, demanding Hunk’s attention without showing any willingness to approach the sparring ring.  Hunk tried coaxing him over for a few ticks before giving up and going to him.

“Are you here to train?” Shiro asked Narti.

“Do you want to spar with us?” Lance put in before she could even begin to answer.  “I know we’re intimidating,  _ but _ …”

_ Very scary _ , Narti signed, completely deadpan.

“She said—” began the green paladin.

“She said ‘scary’!” Lance said proudly.  “Got it covered, Pidge.  I’m a pretty fast learner.”

Narti tilted her head at Hunk and asked,  _ Good idea? _

He paused in cooing over Kova.  “Huh?  Oh!  Yeah, that could be fun.  Just don’t break anybody.  I don’t know how the Galra train, but here we want to make it to breakfast.”

_ Medium force _ , Narti summarized.

“Uh,” Hunk said with a hint of warning.

_ Light force _ , she corrected.  She rubbed the top of Kova’s head and made sure he was aware this would be play fighting.  Kova settled in where he was, content to watch. That was just as well.  Narti preferred having a wider view of the battlefield.  She approached the knot of paladins in the center of the room.

“I’m on Narti’s team!” Lance announced at once.

“Wait for me!” Hunk protested.  He broke into a jog to join the group.

They gave her a heavy, plastic approximation of a sword.  Narti had always trained with live blades and was unsure whether to take this as an insult to her skill or her trustworthiness.  She moved it in careful arcs to assess its balance and then signed,  _ Ready _ .

“Loser makes coffee and breakfast!” Pidge declared.

“Now we’ve  _ gotta _ win,” Keith muttered.

Shiro laughed.  “Okay.  Go.”

Narti surged forward.  Between one step and the next, she blended her senses with Kova’s.  Shiro was the only opponent with a ranged weapon.  Pidge and Keith, on either side of him, had to be in arm’s reach to do any harm.  With a flick of her tail, Narti changed direction faster than Shiro’s aim could follow.  Keith swung, sword whistling through the air.  Narti moved past without meeting it.  She only stopped once Keith was squarely between her and Shiro.  Low power laser fire stuttered around them, nearly drowning out the crack of Narti’s false sword meeting Keith’s.

The Narti belonging to Lotor would have gone straight for Shiro.  She would have disrupted the enemy’s long-range attacks, taking greater risk for the knowledge that Lotor and Acxa could safely gun down the melee forces before they could become a threat.  Had even her fighting changed?

A flurry of strikes shattered her reveries.  She nudged Keith’s blade a little off its target each time, but it was clear the paladin intended to make this challenging for her.  If she allowed him to continue his assault, he was going to get a hit—though according to Hunk, only a light one.

Not a chance.

Narti danced back a couple of steps.  When the distance was perfect, she spun and dropped into a crouch.  Her tail lashed out and found Keith’s wrist, knocking his blade out of his grasp.  She continued pivoting and rose to her feet, bringing the sword up against her now-unarmed opponent.  But instead of shrinking back, Keith rushed her.  He knocked with surprising force into her shoulder, turning her strike aside.  He grabbed for her sword.  Narti had the advantage in height and strength, but Keith didn’t let up for a moment.

“It’s up to you, Narti!” Lance called.

Narti asked Kova to take a look for her and saw that Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were all making their way to the sidelines.  Shiro turned and set himself in a rooted firing stance.  “Keith!” he barked.

Despite the fact that he was facing away from Shiro, Keith reacted as though he already knew his orders, ducking away from Narti so that she was an open target.  Narti dropped the sword in favor of catching hold of Keith in an armlock so she could use him as a shield.

“Ooh, standoff!” Lance said, taking on the job of arena commentator.  Keith couldn’t move, and Shiro was too far away to break up the situation with any speed.

Narti considered it.  And then she let Keith go.  She raised her hands in surrender.

“Aw, come on!” Lance whined.

_ Hunk _ , she signed.

“Yeah?”

_ You cook. _

Breakfast was a noisy affair.  Despite the wager, Shiro helped Hunk cook while Pidge and Lance made the coffee they so desired.  Coffee turned out to be only halfway tolerable, but the food was even better than she had expected.  Kova was fed too many table scraps for his own good.  They talked, too.  Narti didn’t sign often, but when she had something to say, about half of her audience got her meaning.  She wondered if she would ever move past the unique satisfaction of being clearly understood.

The easy atmosphere died instantly with a single intercom announcement.  “We’re nearly there,” said Coran’s voice.  “Paladins, you’d better come up to the bridge.”

At breakfast, the paladins had been youths; now they were soldiers again, marching grimly to the bridge.  Narti followed with Kova on her shoulder.  If nothing else, she needed to know their final decision.

As if he were the one with mental abilities, Hunk said the moment the doors opened, “We can still turn around.”

A rather pointed cough that Narti thought belonged to Coran sounded in the brief silence.

“There is no reason to avoid negotiation,” said a Galra—the only Blade whose voice she had heard.  His mind was like the deep rock of Dalla, steady and constant.  “A formidable warrior he may be, but there is only one of him.”

Hunk was unmoved.  “Yeah, but he’s…”

“Slimy?” Lance suggested.  “Slippery?  Like a used car salesman but with murder?”

“All of that.”

“We  _ need _ Kaloth,” Pidge pointed out.  “We have to at least examine our options.”

Allura’s tone was more diplomatic.  “None of us like this.  But as much as I hate to admit it, Lotor is our best chance to get the defensible position and resources we so desperately need to continue.  He may be our  _ only  _ chance.”

_ Do not rely on it _ , Narti signed.

“Excuse me?” the princess asked.

Narti stood straight and tall.   _ Say this for me _ , she ordered.

“Got it,” Hunk replied at once.  He watched her sign, and slowly but firmly, he told the room, “She says that we might get what we want, or we might not.  But Lotor  _ always  _ gets what he wants.”

It left ripples of quiet across the bridge.  Keith muttered, “She would know.”

“We’re running out of time,” Shiro said, so gravely that Narti doubted he was talking about their arrival at the rendezvous point.  “If there are any other options, let’s hear it.”  No one spoke.  Shiro sighed.  “Then we’ll just have to be smart about it this time.”

Narti doubted they understood how smart they would need to be.  But in any case, it was no longer her business.   _ If Lotor comes _ , she signed,  _ I go. _

Hunk relayed her message for her, albeit despondently.  “I know you’re enemies now,” Shiro began gently, “but—”

_ If Lotor comes, I go _ , she repeated vehemently.  She would not undo whatever tenuous grasp she had on her own future by working alongside Lotor, no matter how briefly.

“A shame,” the Blade rumbled.  “We could have used you in the Blade of Marmora.”

She flicked her tail angrily.   _ I am not for your use. _

The Blade exhaled.  “No,” he agreed, “I suppose you’re not.”

Narti knew their conclusion before it was spoken aloud.  “I’m sorry,” the princess said, and to her credit she did sound apologetic.  “I wish we could have worked out an alliance.”

Narti turned and walked out of the bridge.

She passed freely by a number of other soldiers and Blades as she made her way through the ship’s levels.  They didn’t speak to her.  Kova rubbed against her cheek, determined to lift her spirits.  Narti scratched under his chin gratefully and let him know that they would be traveling again soon.  She would gather her few things and depart without any trace.

Footsteps rebounded loudly off the corridor walls, and Narti recognized Hunk as the presence that was approaching her at a dead run.  She stopped to wait for him.  “Hey,” he managed, panting with exertion.

She waved.

Hunk huffed at her in exasperation.  “You, uh…”  He caught his breath, and his voice quieted.  “You’re really leaving, huh?”

She nodded.

“I don’t blame you,” he assured her hurriedly.  “I mean, look what happened.  It’s just—you know, if we didn’t—”  He sighed.  “I guess I just wish there was another way.”

He sounded miserable, as though one of his paladin friends were leaving him behind.  For that, Narti ruffled his hair a little.  He grumbled but made no coherent protest this time.   _ See you again _ , she signed.

“Hey, I’m holding you to that,” he warned.  He pet Kova behind both ears.  “Right, Kova?  You’ll make sure Narti visits, won’t you?”

Kova mewled cooperatively.

Hunk’s comm buzzed.  Someone at the other end called his name impatiently.

“On my way,” he replied.  He gave Kova one last pat.  “Be good.”

_ Me or Kova? _ Narti asked impishly.

Hunk laughed.  “I was talking to Kova, but you should give it a try, too.”  He started back the way he came.  “See you later!  Okay?”

_ See you again _ , Narti repeated, because it didn’t seem like the right time for  _ goodbye _ .

She had little enough to bring with her.  The longest part of the process was finding her way back to her quarters and from there to the hangar.  Kova curled comfortingly around her shoulder the entire way.  Wherever they went, they would have each other.

But where would they go?

Narti’s steps slowed.  She had no immediate ideas.  She would have to wander until she found her way.  She hadn’t realized that she had been counting on the resistance to grant her a purpose until now.  It was almost worth turning around and tolerating Lotor.  But no matter how tempting a cause—any cause—was, she could not.  She and Kova were alone again, drifting without direction.  Uncertainty scraped at the edges of her thoughts.

It only increased its hold on her as she strode through the halls to the hangar.  Rebels hurried on to their own business as if she had already left.  She had no place here.  Her footsteps echoed in the empty hangar as she entered.  She would leave alone.

She knew the approaching presence the moment she felt it.  She would have known it anywhere, no matter her distraction or how much time had passed.  Narti wanted nothing so much as to lash out, or run, but she would not survive the former.  And she would not give him the satisfaction of the latter.

Lotor was here.

In the time it had taken her to find her way, he had found  _ her _ .  He was not her commander, she reminded herself and Kova.  He was not her prince.  She kept walking.

“So you  _ are _ alive,” Lotor noted.  His voice spread through the room like fire over oil, catching her in its path.  She stopped.  Kova twisted around to watch him warily, and despite herself, Narti pressed to see through Kova’s senses.  He stood as easily as ever, languid calculation in the angles of his face.  She did not face him.

“A wise choice, not siding with the paladins,” he continued.  His tone was low and smooth, but only in the way that a sword came easily out of its sheath.  “They’ll never last.”  His eyes flashed, and his voice dipped in a challenge.  “At least, not without my help.”

Narti half turned, tail raised warily.  She sensed something like an offer.

He stepped closer, slowly but not hesitantly.  “It’s not too late,” he said, quieter now.  Drawing her in.  “I am far from finished with my father’s empire.  You have only shown weakness once, and you’ve paid for it.”

For a moment, Narti thought about how much easier it would be to fall back into place— _ her _ place.  Was whatever she had gained worth not knowing her purpose?  What good was all this if she no longer belonged anywhere?  She was tired of never finding rest in the answers she needed.  She was afraid of the vast open space that was all she knew of her future.

“Come with me.”  He was closer now and his voice was steelier.  “You’re not an animal to beg scraps from the rabble.  You’re a general, Narti.  You are  _ my _ general.”

_ Come with me and we’ll show them what you can do _ , he’d promised.  He reached out.

Narti caught his wrist with reflexes honed by years defending him.  And then she did something she had never done before.  She  _ saw _ him.

She looked into Lotor.  She overpowered his resistance with little more than a thought, and she beheld everything he was and ever had been.  He was cold, and viciously, desperately angry.  In his mind she saw his every action weighed out in the moments before it, judging its impact.  Every word and gesture, whether felt or not, was another piece in the construction of his war machine.  He kept his people’s loyalty honed so he could wield it.  It was all he would ever know—pieces on the board, motives, orchestrations.  An empire of lives arranged for his personal vendettas.

She saw the ghost of herself.  She saw a silent weapon who would take his direction without question given just a little acknowledgement.  She had a place at Lotor’s left hand because he had a use for her.

And Narti was so much more than that.

She let him go, catching the last mental echoes of outrage and fear that she would invade his mind where she had never dared before.  And then she walked away.

Narti boarded her ship with a strange sense of peace.  Perhaps she would keep up with the rebellion, to determine whether it was worth fighting.  Perhaps she would earn enough money to pay Chok back for his ruined ship.  Perhaps—and this idea she liked—she would find a way to make sure there were no more angry halfbreeds that were too uncertain of themselves to resist the call of the empire.  Perhaps if she could figure out what it was she had learned, she could pass it on.  It was a start.

Whatever she did, she would do it well.  She would do it with Kova.  And she would do it for herself.


	7. Home

**Some months later:**

“We’re almost there, Mrs. Narti’s Mom,” Hunk assured his passenger.

Narti’s mom loomed over him.  She used her telepathy powers to inform him that she knew they were almost there and she was very amused he felt the need to broadcast it.  Her lizard bug thing was watching the display panels.

The planet they were approaching was all brownish red sand and stone, but it was also full of people.  Hunk could see the clustered lights on the night side from here.  It was a pretty sight, coming in aligned with the planet’s orbit this way.  He double checked the coordinates and realized it would be a little after sunrise where Narti was.

His comm fizzled for a second before connecting.  “But if Narti  _ does _ make me her padawan,” Lance said from his own lion.

Hunk nodded seriously.  “Uh-huh.”

“Keith got to fight with the Blades for a while,” Lance went on reasonably, “so I could totally do it.  And then I would come back with all sorts of sweet moves.”

“Yeah.  Yeah.”  They started the descent through the atmosphere.  Hunk’s lion took it like a champ.  “But, you know, she might be busy.  And you’re definitely busy.  We’ve kind of got a full schedule.”

“You just don’t want to pilot Voltron without me!”

Hunk’s lip wobbled.  “No, I don’t.”

“Aw, okay.”  Lance was silent until they had to level out, and then he added thoughtfully, “Still.”

“I mean, if she asks you—”

“Right?  I’ve got to.”

“Yeah.”

They touched down just outside a small town full of short, geometric buildings, all made of stone.  Hunk gallantly gestured to the open hatch and let Narti’s mom go first.  So by the time he landed on solid ground, Lance was already waiting with a grin.

The found Narti and most of the village in a central yard.  They were all lined up, serious expressions on their lizard faces.  (Probably.  It was hard to tell with lizard faces.)  Kova was sprawled over the top of a wall, leg dangling lazily off the side.  He kept half an eye on the crowd of students while he sunned.

Narti noticed them coming and signed,  _ Wait _ .  They stood off to the side while she gave her students silent instructions.  She was getting really good at the sign language.  Everything was fast and fluent.  Lance mouthed the words to himself as she went.

“Twenty times?” someone in the back blurted out incredulously.

_ Thirty for you _ , Narti retorted.  When it was clear everyone got the message, she explained,  _ Until you don’t have to think to do it right. _

“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted in unison.

Narti nodded decisively.  The rows of students dropped into a fighting stance as one and began drilling a short combination of moves.  She let them get through two repetitions before leaving them to it.

Hunk had to admit that he would have done what Narti said, too.  She was the tallest being here except for her mom.  And between her dusty combat clothes and her badass scar, she looked like she meant serious business.  Except for—

“Hey, uh, Narti?” Hunk tried.  “You’ve got a thing on your jacket.  Like a flower.”  It was extremely pink and stuck through a loop near her shoulder.

_ Yes _ , she signed.

Wow.  Okay.  “I meant  _ why  _ do you have a flower on your jacket?”

She just spelled out E-Z-O-R like it meant something.  She was so mysterious sometimes.

She leaned her forehead against her mom’s.  Hunk was distracted from all the greetings by a high meow.  He knelt down to pet Kova, whose fur was already hot from the sun.  “Hi, baby,” Hunk cooed.  With a sideways glance at Narti, he slipped a little jerky out of his pocket and gave it to Kova.

“We got the last outpost cleared yesterday,” Hunk announced as he stood up.  “That’s the whole system empire-free.”

“I made the critical shot,” Lance added in his best fake casual tone.

Narti nodded.

“So how are things going here?”  Hunk looked over at the students, who were still drilling and looked pretty sharp at it.  “Good, right?  They look good.”

_ Thank you _ , she said.   _ They are not disciplined.  But they are determined. _

“Are we ever going to see you in the castle?” Lance asked hopefully.  “Now that we’re working together, it would be cool to have you in strategy meetings.  Or for training.  Gotta hone those ninja skills.”

“Yeah, when are you coming home?” Hunk agreed before he could help himself.  He immediately regretted it.  “Not that the castle is your home.  I’m sure you’re home’s probably... ”  But as soon as he looked at Narti’s mom, the dalladh shook her head sadly.  “Oh.  I just meant—”

Narti cut him off by patting his head consolingly.  She considered the three of them.  It was hard to tell without tone or facial expressions, but there was definitely something about the way she held herself and her tail and the angle of her head.  She seemed happy.  It could have been wishful thinking on Hunk’s part, but he really thought she was.

At last, she told them,  _ I am my home. _


End file.
